Did President Buhari Just Try To Deceive Nigerians On Independence Day?

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday in a speech marking Nigeria’s independence day, came out to say that General Electric had planned to invest $2.2 billion in the Nigerian economy ‘in a concession to revamp, provide rolling stock, and manage some of the country’s railway lines.’

From all indications, that statment is not correct. General Electric have come out to refute these claims that it would invest $2.2 billion in Nigeria within the next few years.

Reuters reports that G.E. has come out to say it is spending only $150 million in Nigeria, with total investments in Africa to reach around the $2billion mark according to statements from a senior executive of the company on Monday.

“There are development projects where we are investing,” Jay Ireland, chief executive of General Electric in Africa told the FT Africa Summit in London. GE would also invest in oil and gas industry projects. Ireland said the Nigeria investment was part of a plan to spend $2 billion in Africa in coming years.

The question now is ‘Was it an honest misunderstanding or were Nigerians being deceived?’

Parts of this article originally appeared in Reuters.