Former Minister of Education, Dr Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili has faulted the full replacement of the Economic Management Team (EMT) with the Economic Advisory Council (EAC).
In a series of tweets on her verified handle @obyezeks, on Tuesday, Ezekwesili pointed that the hitherto EMT should rather subsist as the technical team and combined in a structure that also accommodates the council of economic advisers.
Harping on the imperativeness of a right structure, she held that the EMT should possess two levels of hierarchical control where the EMT meeting is chaired by the President with his Vice as Vice Chairman and another EMT technical meeting chaired by the Minister of finance with core technical members.
She stressed that the two-layered structure of EMT if combined with a council of economic advisers will help synergize topmost political power, internal technical skills and external skills.
According to her, the nation was plunged into economic challenges because the Central Bank Governor and the Minister of Finance were not acting based on decisions reached by the dissolved Economic Management team.
Arguing that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has landed the nation’s economy into deep crisis as a result if bad policies, Ezekwesili prayed the economic advisers will ignore sycophants around the presidency and give factual recommendations from time to time.
She particularly fingered Buhari as being responsible for making bad monetary policies, strange fiscal policies, because he commanded the Central bank, Ministry of Finance and other related establishments to implement those policies.
“The economy is in deep crisis because of extremely Bad Policies that the President commanded the Central Bank, Ministry of Finance and other related establishments to implement.
“The EMT was in reality chaired by the VP who had no power over Core Economic Policy decisions.
“Both the CBN Governor and the Ministers of Finance were not acting based on any Economic Management Team decisions. Now at least the pretence is over about economy.
“The EMT was in reality chaired by the VP who had no power over Core Economic Policy decisions. The other side of the Presidency did not mind having him be the cannon fodder for all the extremely Bad Economic Policy decisions.
“A combination of a Two-Layered Structure of the EMT plus Council of Economic Advisers of the calibre of minds just appointed would be brilliant.
“It would bring 3 things together, Topmost Political power, Coordinated Internal Technical Skills, Input of External Skills.
“The remit of the Council of Economic Advisers seems to suggest it rightly as “External Visitors” who meet monthly and then meet the President Quarterly.
“If so, setting it up as a full replacement of the EMT which should remain as the Technical Team that it should be is a mistake.
“The proper structure of that their EMT should have had is two levels of hierarchical control:
“An EMT Meeting chaired by the President with his VP as Vice-Chair. An EMT Technical Meeting chaired by the Minister of Finance with core Technical Members. Structure is everything.
“Hopefully, our couple of outstanding eggheads that are named to the council of economic advisers will ignore all those genuflecting sycophancy that surrounds President Buhari and tell him the kind of truth that annoys them but which must be heard for our economy to grow and prosper,” some of her tweets read.
The Presidency had on Monday named the EAC made up of Professor Doyin Salami (Chairman), Dr Mohammed Sagagi (Vice-Chairman), Professor Ode Ojowu, Dr Shehu Yahaya, Dr Iyabo Masha, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, Mr Bismark Rewane and Dr Mohammed Adaya Salisu (Secretary).