The Federal Government has denied a claim by The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, that Nigerian Ministers who were invited to the United States-Nigeria Investment Summit in Washington, DC, shunned the forum.
Mr Sanusi II, who spoke with reporters after the session on Private Equity and Financing, had described as unacceptable, the attitude of Nigerian Ministers and Governors who were billed to speak at a special function to attract investors to the country at the Nigerian House in Washington.
The occasion which was tagged, “Nigeria is open for Business” was designed to bring under one roof, decision makers from Nigeria, United States officials, entrepreneurs, investors, Chief Executive Officers of the renowned corporation and their representatives, the academia and other interested individuals and groups.
However, in a statement issued in London on Monday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said that most of the Ministers who were slated to attend the event were not invited and were not in Washington, DC, at the time, hence the insinuation that some Ministers collected estacodes without attending the forum is baseless.
He stated that the Ministers of Agriculture; Power Works and Housing and Budget and National Planning did not get an invitation from the organizers, even though they were listed among those who were expected to attend.
Lai Mohammed said that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, who was invited, was with the President at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, CHOGM, in London at the time of the summit.
He also said that the Minister of Finance, who was in Washington, DC, at the time, was there purposely to attend the 2018 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The Minister, however, said that though he was invited to the forum, he wrote back to inform the organizers that he would not be able to make the trip due to conflicting schedules.
”It is clear from the foregoing that no Minister shunned the US-Investment Summit and that the reports being circulated in that regard are bereft of facts,” the Minister said.