Nigeria snubbed at White House summit, opposition blames Tinubu

Nigeria’s opposition alliance blamed President Bola Tinubu for not being invited to the African summit in the White House on Wednesday, according to a statement by the opposition’s Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi.

The newly formed opposition coalition, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), stated that Nigeria’s absence from the meeting constituted a ”damning international indictment” of the country’s poor economic health and weak foreign policy under Tinubu, as reported by Nigeria’s Vanguard media. 

“Although we are Africa’s largest economy, with the largest consumer market and the continent’s most influential diaspora, the United States chose to bypass us in favour of nations which combined GDP is only a fraction of ours,’’ Abdullahi said in the statement.

U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal in Washington from July 9 to 11.

Trade, investment and security will be the key topics for the summit as the Trump administration pivots to a ’trade not aid’ development strategy in Africa.

It is unclear why Trump chose to invite the five relatively small West African states, but the day before the summit was announced, U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that American engagement in Africa would favour nations” that have demonstrated both the ability and willingness to help themselves”.

As the largest economy and most populous country in West Africa, Nigeria’s exclusion from Wednesday’s meeting is noteworthy. 

Diplomatic relations between the U.S and Nigeria have worsened in recent weeks culminating on Sunday when Trump on Truth Social announced an additional 10% tariff on Nigeria and other countries aligned with BRICS. In the post, the President criticised BRICS policies for being ‘anti-American’. 

In January, Nigeria joined the alliance of emerging economies as an official partner country. Speaking at the 17th BRICS Summit in Brazil earlier this week, President Tinubu called for “a reevaluation of the current global governance structure”, in an assumed jab at the U.S.

Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi warned that the new BRICS tariff against Nigeria was evidence that the country’s global reputation was slipping, noting that a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable that a meeting like Wednesday’s would be held without Nigeria.

“It shows just how far our global standing has declined under this administration,” he said.