The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has had its say on the decision of the United States administration of Donald Trump to host the Presidents of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal for high-level commercial talks at the White House to the exclusion of President Bola Tinubu.
In a statement the party’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi issued, it said the exclusion of President Tinubu from the high-level economic dialogue with Trump is allegely a damning indictment of the Tinubu administration’s alleged misgovernance and economic failure.
“For years, African thought leaders have argued that it was about time that the Western World started to engage with African countries as trade partners rather than as hapless recipients of aid. Finally, an American President has emerged who is cutting aid and promoting trade. But Nigeria is not invited to the table.
“According to the Americans, the three-day meeting, which starts on Wednesday, is convened to explore commercial opportunities that could benefit both American companies and African partners. They said they have invited countries who have demonstrated ‘the ability, and willingness, to help itself.’
“What this means in plain language is that under President Tinubu, Nigeria is no longer taken seriously. Although we are Africa’s largest economy, with the largest consumer market and Africa’s most influential diaspora, the United States chose to bypass us in favour of nations whose combined GDP is only a fraction of ours. With this snub, what the Americans are telling us is that size means nothing without leadership and a demonstrable commitment to efficiency, to transparency and to accountability.
“Only a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable that such meeting would hold without Nigeria. This only shows how low this administration has brought our country in the estimation of the world. To add insult onto injury, Nigeria is now being threatened by President Trump with a 10% tariff because of our association with BRICS, which started in January 2025. The ADC is not opposed to BRICS, but we are
opposed to Nigeria punching below its weight by playing in the small league,” the statement reads.
