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Experts Dismiss Tinubu’s Economic Team As Flawed
Some economic experts have picked holes in the composition of the economic team set up by President Bola Tinubu, describing it as flawed.
Tinubu, on Wednesday, approved the establishment of the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC) and the Economic Management Team Emergency Taskforce (EET) to tackle the prevailing economic challenges in the country.
The PECC is made up of President Bola Tinubu as Chairman and Vice President Kashim Shettima as Vice Chairman.
Other members are, President of the Nigerian Senate, Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and other relevant Ministers.
The council will also have some members of the organized private sector, joining for a period not exceeding one (1) year, subject to the President’s directive
They are Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mr. Tony Elumelu, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, Ms. Amina Maina, Mr. Begun Ajayi-Kadir among others.
But economic experts who spoke with Daily Trust on Thursday said the composition was flawed, saying it was composed of stakeholders with vested interests.
A Professor of Economics and the Director, Centre for Economic Policy Analysis and Research, at the University of Lagos, Ndubisi Nwokoma, argued that a professional body such as the Nigeria Economic Society would have made a greater impact in the committee.
He said: “The composition of that team is somewhat flawed because these are stakeholders who all have interest in the economy. If you bring in people who have interest, they would protect their own interest; they would protect their own businesses.
“They would be thinking of policies that actually would favour them, nobody would go into a discussion that would work against him.
“I think bringing professional bodies like the Nigerian Economic Society, these are purely intellectuals, people that don’t have any stake who are not business men, who are just looking at the contextual issues and looking at the direction of government and find out where the government ought to take the economy to and what should be done to get there.”
He expressed concern that the country’s economy has been consumption based, saying: “In terms of where the economy should go, I think fundamentally we have gotten it wrong as a country, I think we need to look at the fundamental issues in terms of the structure of the economy.”
Also speaking, Professor Adeola Adenikinju of the Department of Economics, University of Ibadan and Vice President of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) while hailing the composition of the committee as timely, however raised issues with its composition.
According to him, the committee is composed of largely government assisted people, who are going to benefit from the expected policies they are coming up with.
“Every government needs to have a body of experts to advise them on the efficacy of policies put in place and what are the new policies to ensure the economy works better.
“In terms of the composition, the intellectuals, the experts who are working in this area are not there. What you see are largely government assisted people who are interested in one contract or the other. So they are not going to be neutral in terms of the advice they are going to give. There is a likelihood that they would want to protect their interest. You don’t have lecturers; you don’t have the Nigerian Economic Society, who are on the intellectual side of the society,” he submitted.
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
