ABUJA, Nigeria – The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has described the departure of global ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. from Nigeria, alongside the continued shutdown or scaling back of operations by major multinational brands, as indisputable proof that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic policies have turned the country into a “graveyard of businesses,” the opposition party announced in Abuja on Thursday, September 3, 2026.
In a strongly worded press statement, the ADC asserted that the unrelenting flight of international capital constitutes an unequivocal vote of no-confidence by global investors in the fiscal and monetary management of the current administration.
Okay News reports that the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, argued that the growing registry of corporate closures exposes a stark divergence between official claims of macroeconomic recovery and the harsh operating environment experienced by commercial enterprises and citizens.
The ADC faulted the Federal Government for celebrating a modest 0.2 percentage-point improvement in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), noting that abstract growth numbers offer no relief to citizens navigating an acute cost-of-living crisis where national poverty has expanded to 63 percent, trapping roughly 140 million Nigerians in deprivation.
“Certainly, a 0.2% growth does not justify the extreme hardship that Nigerians are suffering,” the ADC stated. “When the President and his party say things are getting better, we expect them to tell us what has improved in the lives of Nigerians. They should tell us how much food their ‘GDP growth’ has put on the tables. They should tell us which bill it has paid. If 0.2% is a mark of success in their books, President Tinubu and APC should tell us what they consider as failure.”
The opposition party maintained that Uber’s exit after 12 years of operations in Nigeria reflects an increasingly hostile commercial landscape dominated by escalating overheads, pointing out that petrol pump prices have surged by as much as 1,700 percent following the abrupt removal of petrol subsidies and the devaluation of the national currency.
Abdullahi noted that this prohibitive cost environment reinforces the policy position of ADC presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who has called for the immediate reintroduction of a transparent, targeted fuel subsidy framework to reduce logistics expenses and stimulate domestic industrial production.
Reinforcing its critique of the country’s business climate, the ADC referenced historical data from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) indicating that 767 manufacturing entities, including 20 iconic international corporations, have ceased operations, while hundreds of others remain financially distressed.
The party cited an expansive roster of corporate departures and operational contractions recorded in recent years, including Microsoft, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)—which halted local manufacturing after 50 years—Sanofi-Aventis, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Bayer AG, PZ Cussons, Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Bolt Food, and Jumia.
“Therefore, when the President announces that Nigeria has turned the corner, we wonder which corner he is talking about,” the ADC added. “If indeed the economy is improving, or the slightest hope exists in the minds of those who run these businesses that this APC government can improve the economy, why are they closing shop and moving elsewhere?”
