{"id":70000,"date":"2024-04-30T21:48:43","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T21:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=70000"},"modified":"2024-04-30T21:48:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T21:48:43","slug":"deja-vu-again-nigerias-presidency-caught-in-another-web-of-lies-over-claims-of-600m-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=70000","title":{"rendered":"Deja vu: Again, Nigeria’s presidency caught in another web of lies over claims of $600m investment"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is the second time within six weeks that presidency officials have been caught allegedly lying over economic concessions with foreign entities that never were.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Tinubu & Maersk officials in Riyadh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Early March, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, was made to recant after it emerged that the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) did not lift a 19 months old visa ban on Nigerians and citizens of 19 other African countries, as claimed by the Presidency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though no statement has been issued on the present blunder where Maersk, a Danish company, was said to have agreed on a $600m investment in Nigeria after a meeting by its head with President Bola Tinubu; Mr. Onanuga, who was in the centre of the first lying episode, has pulled down his statement that is said to be embarrassing the seat of power<\/span><\/p>\n

In a report that exposed the lie on the investment, Lloydslist.com said Nigerian president Bola Tinubu claims to have secured an investment of $600m from Danish shipping and logistics giant Maersk, was news to the company.<\/span><\/p>\n

The story reads: “A $600m investment into Nigeria\u2019s port sector from Maersk, announced personally by the West African state\u2019s president Bola Tinubu on Sunday, appears to be less solid than the government initially claimed.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Despite a presidential statement from Tinubu detailing how he had secured the purported investment during a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh over the weekend, Maersk officials have confirmed that no such agreement is in place and no deals have been signed.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The Nigerian government statement detailed how A.P Moller-Maersk chairman Robert Maersk Uggla had discussed the investment with president Tinubu on the sidelines of a meeting discussing energy development and growth. The statement even included a direct quote attributed to Uggla saying: \u201cWe believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

“But according to Maersk, that deal does not exist.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Company officials said while Uggla did meet the president, no such deal had been signed.<\/span><\/p>\n

“\u201cMaersk has been present in Nigeria for 35 years and, as a global provider of logistics services, we remain committed to develop opportunities for growth to people, the port sector and businesses locally,\u201d the company said in a statement to Lloyd\u2019s List.<\/span><\/p>\n

“\u201cTherefore, it is natural to have an ongoing dialogue with the administration. However, we are not able to comment on any investment talks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

“Maersk is due to report first-quarter results on Thursday, meaning that management are in a regulatory quiet period limiting what they can say publicly about the company\u2019s activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Nigeria has promised to revamp its ports, including in the commercial capital Lagos, to ease congestion.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Tinubu\u2019s statement explained that his government would support the modernisation and automation of its ports to improve trade, reduce corruption and boost efficiency. He claimed that the purported Maersk investment would \u201ccomplement the administration\u2019s ongoing $1bn investment in seaport reconstruction across the eastern and western seaports of Nigeria\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

“\u201cA bet on Nigeria is a winning bet. It is also a bet that rewards beyond what is obtainable elsewhere,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to encourage more opportunities for revenue expansion and minimise trans-shipments from larger ships to smaller ships.\u201d”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Additional report by Lloydslist.com<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is the second time within six weeks that presidency officials have been caught allegedly lying over economic concessions with foreign entities that never were. Early March, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, was made to recant after it emerged that the government of the United Arab Emirates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[3672,6633,56],"class_list":["post-70000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-business","category-news","tag-lie","tag-maersk","tag-tinubu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70000\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}