ADC’s Take on Uber’s Exit Embarrassing, Smacks of Ignorance — TMSG

ADC’s Take on Uber’s Exit Embarrassing, Smacks of Ignorance — TMSG

The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described the reaction of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the recent exit of ride-hailing company Uber from Nigeria as ignorant and embarrassing.

The group said the position was particularly misplaced because Uber had clearly stated that its decision to leave Nigeria and Uganda was part of a global restructuring exercise.

In a statement by its Chairman, Emeka Nwankpa, and Secretary, Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG said only a party fixated on searching for negative narratives about Nigeria could interpret Uber’s business decision as an indictment of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

It said: “Any Nigerian who has been monitoring the political scene in recent months would have accurately predicted that a rudderless party like the African Democratic Congress (ADC) would jump on Uber’s exit to mock the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“This was exactly what it sought to do in the aftermath of the Osun State governorship election, where it performed woefully, by claiming that it worked with Governor Adeleke to defeat the APC.

“While Uber had emphasised that it was leaving Nigeria and Uganda as part of its global restructuring, which also entailed laying off about 3,300 employees worldwide, ADC opted to describe its exit from Nigeria as a reaction to the economic policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration.

“Like it has done several times, ADC and its media handlers have proved to be out of touch with reality. This may be because they are not fully on ground or are simply in too much of a hurry to attack President Tinubu.

“If they were in touch with the realities of the ride-hailing industry in the country, they would have better understood the situation and known that Uber had been having issues with its riders in Nigeria.

“We would have been more worried if Uber had blamed the Nigerian economy or government policies, which other ride-hailing companies could also use as an excuse to follow Uber out of the country. Instead, those companies are assuring Nigerians that they are up to the task of filling any gap created by Uber’s departure.

“We also know that, aside from leaving Nigeria and Uganda with effect from September 2, the company had earlier exited Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire last year.”

TMSG further argued that Uber’s continued interest in investing in businesses connected to the Nigerian market contradicted ADC’s claim about the state of the economy.

“It is also interesting that as Uber is exiting the ride-hailing business in the country, it has acquired a major stake in Spanish startup Glovo, which incidentally lists Nigeria as its fastest-growing market in the world.

“In three years, Glovo paid its Nigerian partners N71 billion, underlining the level of business activity and profitability in the Nigerian market.

“This is the same economy which the rudderless party has described as a ‘graveyard of businesses’. So, while exiting one business, Uber is investing in another with a major footprint in Nigeria. This clearly contradicts ADC’s narrative about the impact of the Tinubu administration on businesses in the country.

“We are also aware that it is in this same economy, under the watch of President Tinubu, that one of the country’s popular biscuit brands, Okin, is staging a comeback after a 17-year shutdown of its factory.

“So, it beggars belief that a party posturing as an alternative to the ruling APC would be so careless as to play politics with what is essentially a business decision by a private company,” it said.