In his first detailed published
comments on his Economic
Management Team, President
Muhammadu Buhari has
explained the approach and
conduct of the team even as
he explains his three wishes
as president, including
ensuring that every of the
nation's income is used for
the good of the ordinary
people, Empowered Newswire
reports.
Speaking in an exclusive
interview with The
Interview, a monthly
publication in its just
released July edition, the
President said regarding his
Economic Team "we will listen
to everybody, but we are
averse to economic teams
whose private sector
members frequently steer
government policy to suit
their own narrow interests
rather than the overall
national interest."
He said the Vice President,
Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is the
head of the Economic
Management Team and listed
some of the members after
he was asked about the
team's existence. Below is
the Q & A as reported in the
publication.
Q: You have been criticized
for not having an economic
team. Don't you think you
need one?
A:" What do they mean by
team? The Vice President
heads our economic
management team. You have
a finance minister, a budget,
and planning minister, a
minister for industry, trade
& investments, a governor
at the Central Bank, a
national economic adviser,
and others, yet some still
ask for a team. I don't know
how they define the word,
'team.'
We will listen to everybody,
but we are averse to
economic teams whose
private sector members
frequently steer government
policy to suit their own
narrow interests rather than
the over-all national
interest."
It would be recalled that the
Presidency had disclosed
several times that an
Economic Management Team
does exist and meets at
least once a week. The team
played leading role in the
budgeting process and
designed the Strategic
Implementation Document
once the fiscal document was
passed and signed into law.
While the Buhari
administration is aversed to
interested private sector
members, it's Economic Team
engages in consultations
regularly with different
representatives of the
private sector and other
economic experts including
stakeholders in the economy.
Also in the publication, the
President was asked what
his wish list included as
president. He listed three:
His words:
1. That we will truly change
the way we do things in
Nigeria. Therein lies the
future of our country as a
great entity.
2. A fully diversified Nigerian
economy no longer
dependent on oil only.
3. A Nigeria where every
Naira that comes into the
treasury is used for the
good of the people,
particularly, the ordinary
people.

kennygee:
A pastor and a Lawyer as the head of a country's economic team?

Four years of a billion laughs.

rusher14:
I see people only look but cannot read.

Osinbajo heads the economic think-tank. Unlike the immediate past in which the VP doubled as a ghostworker this VP is very much in the thick of things.

rusher14:
[s]I see people only look but cannot read.

Osinbajo heads the economic think-tank. Unlike the immediate past in which the VP doubled as a ghostworker this VP is very much in the thick of things. [/s]

rusher14:
I see people only look but cannot read.

Osinbajo heads the economic think-tank. Unlike the immediate past in which the VP doubled as a ghostworker this VP is very much in the thick of things.

rusher14:
I see people only look but cannot read.

Osinbajo heads the economic think-tank. Unlike the immediate past in which the VP doubled as a ghostworker this VP is very much in the thick of things.

Firefire:
buck-passing?

kennygee:
A pastor and a Lawyer as the head of a country's economic team?
I guess that London school of Economics certificate will come in handy.
Four years of a billion laughs.

ozoigbondu:


I rather have okonjo iwela or kemi adesoun to run things and keep the economy afloat than give my vice the job to stroke his ego when he knows next to nothing about economics

It is better that the vice president is in good mode than giving him the economic team to lead when he knows nothing about economics

rusher14:


At the end they must report to someone. That some is the VP.

ozoigbondu:


The vice president knows nothing about the economy. I rather have the economic team report to the minster of finance who is at least qualified

seunmsg:


What's buck-passing in this? Is the vice president not constitutionally the head of the economic management team?



Going by your logic, Goodluck Jonathan should have remained in the zoo since he studied zoology.

rusher14:


Would the minister report to someone or not?

We don't vote ministers and so whoever it is must report to his/ her superior

ozoigbondu:


The minster under normal circumstances should have direct and unfettered access to the president.They are part of the cabinet and are answerable only to the president who is his/ her superior

rusher14:


You mean the presidency.

The president acknowledges separation of duties and specialisation.

Nothing wrong with a professor Law being a critical partner and head of an economic team. He has constitutional rights, privileged legal and professional understanding of business framework and more than anything has a reputation to maintain.

ozoigbondu:

Anybody can be the president and presidents appoint technocrats in various sectors for advice and guidance
The economy is however a very serious sector and if anything goes wrong every body will feel.
Therefore no unqualified person should be put in charge just to stroke their ego

seunmsg:


The vice president is by law the chairman of national economic council, national planning commission and national council on privatisation. He's the head of the economic team by default so, his qualification doesn't really matter.

You should also understand that the ministry of finance is responsible for the formulation and implementation of the nation's fiscal policies while the CBN is responsible for that of monetary policies. The ministry of national planning takes care of the nation's budget and formulating short, medium and long term economic goals.

The job of the economic management team is to ensure that there is coordination and synergy between these key ministries and agency. The VP is better placed to head the team as he's a senior government official to all the heads of these ministries and he can enforce cooperation and coordination.

Appointing the finance minister as head of the economic team was legally wrong and that was why Jonathan had to add coordinating minister of the economy to NOI title just to make her look superior to her minister colleagues.

Firefire:
buck-passing?

omenka:
When hatred and agony from defeat muddles your mind up you'd be able to relate to their condition.