Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Tax Policy and Fiscal Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has dismissed claims that the recent sell-off in the Nigerian capital market was triggered by foreign investors reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about Nigeria.
Oyedele explained that the fluctuations in the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) were part of normal market cycles rather than politically driven sell-offs.
“The capital market is always an up-and-down situation,” he said. “Even after the sell-off yesterday, returns are still slim to about 40 per cent, and in dollar terms, about 50 per cent. This remains one of the best-performing markets in the world, and we want it to do even better. But there is no market where things continue to always go up.”
He noted that investors tend to take profits after extended periods of gains, leading to momentary declines, which should not be misinterpreted as panic reactions.
“The problem we created,” he said, “is that after a long run of gains and a few days of declines, people started attributing it to two things: the capital gains tax, which is not correct, and Trump’s issue with Nigeria over the genocide comment.”
Oyedele added that if any sell-offs had indeed been influenced by Trump’s comments, “those people should be foreign investors, because Nigerian investors will not sell off because of Trump. Otherwise, where will they take the investments to?”
He emphasised that since foreign investors were not exiting the market, the recent dip could not be attributed to external political tensions.
“It’s just a normal market cycle where prices go up and down. Once we attribute them wrongly, it drives unnecessary sentiment,” he said.