Peter Obi, the presidential candidate, Labour Party in the 2023 election, has decried the exit of the pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), from Nigeria after 51 years of operation. 

Mr Obi, the former Governor of Anambra State, made this known through his official Twitter handle on Friday.

On Thursday, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a British pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, said in the coming months, it plans to exit Nigeria after 51 years of operation in Nigeria.

Its spokesperson, Omongiade Ehighebolo, said in a statement that the challenge in accessing currency was affecting its ability to maintain a consistent supply of medicines and vaccines in the market.

GSK has a manufacturing facility set up in Agbara on over 25 hectares of land. 

The company had directly employed no fewer than 400 highly technical workers, including pharmacists, microbiologists, biochemists, chemists, dentists, doctors, and over 1000 other staff.

Mr Obi said the company that indirectly provided jobs and business opportunities for thousands of Nigerians across the nation regretted that it was now leaving all these behind and pushing more people back into unemployment.

He said that their reason for leaving portends a gloomy future for the country’s investment climate.

He said: “Today, I was saddened to hear that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is exiting Nigeria after 51 years of operations.

“Their reason for leaving Nigeria is even more disheartening, that they are no longer perceiving any future growth of the country, which will be anchored on productivity.”

He said it was painful that the country was at the point in the nation’s journey where multinationals were leaving the country and the local ones were closing down.

Mr Obi added that this was consequences of poor management of the economy as millions were losing their jobs and the poverty index was worsening.

He said these multinationals leaving the country not only create jobs but create immeasurable training that contributed immensely to human capital development.

The LP standard bearer recalled his consistent position that “in turning the nation around, it must move the economy from consumption to production.

According to him, part of this includes encouraging and supporting local and foreign investments, like GSK, in the country.

Mr Obi finally stressed the importance of creating an environment that creates and sustains multinationals to invest in the country was key to the dream of greatness.

He said in the new Nigeria that they seek to create, the emphasis on production would encourage investors to stay and expand on its shores.

(NAN)