High expectations from EAC
President Muhammadu Buhari last week replaced the Economic Management Team [EMT] headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo with an Economic Advisory Council [EAC] under the chairmanship of Prof Doyin Salami. Special Adviser on Media to the President, Femi Adesina announced the coming on board of the EAC. He named Dr Mohammed Sagagi as its vice […]
President Muhammadu Buhari last week replaced the Economic Management Team [EMT] headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo with an Economic Advisory Council [EAC] under the chairmanship of Prof Doyin Salami. Special Adviser on Media to the President, Femi Adesina announced the coming on board of the EAC. He named Dr Mohammed Sagagi as its vice chairman. Other members are Prof Ode Ojowu, Dr Shehu Yahaya, Dr. Iyabo Masha, Mr Bismark Rewane and former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Prof Chukwuma Soludo. Dr Mohammed Adaya Salisu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Development Policy, is the council’s secretary.
According Adesina, the Council will be reporting directly to the President. He also said, “EAC will have monthly technical sessions as well as scheduled quarterly meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari. The chairman of the EAC may, however, request for unscheduled meetings if the need arises.” Besides helping President Buhari to steer the Nigerian economy on the path of sustainable growth, Adesina said the new Council shall also advise Buhari on federal government’s economic policy matters, fiscal analysis, economic growth and a range of internal and global economic issues in partnership with the relevant ministers and heads of monetary and fiscal agencies.
This would be the first time under Buhari that the economic team will be headed by someone from outside the presidency. Unlike the previous EMT, all the council’s members except the secretary were brought from outside the government. The erstwhile Osinbajo-led EMT, made up mostly of government appointees, met only once since President Buhari began his second term in office. Under different nomenclature, vice presidents had been heading the economic team of the president since 1999. During his first and second tenure, former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed his deputy, Atiku Abubakar to head his economic team. It was the same when late Umaru Yar’adua became President in 2007 and appointed his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan to head his economic team. After the demise of Yar’adua, President Jonathan also appointed Vice President Namadi Sambo as head of his economic team.
Unlike the National Economic Council [NEC] which is a creation of the Constitution, economic teams were always the initiative of presidents, who brought on board the people they felt would help them fine-tune their economic policies. Meanwhile, economic and financial experts have said the new Economic Advisory Council (EAC) is a right step in the right direction.
Nonetheless, many Nigerians scored the performance of the Osinbajo-led EMT in the past four years low, describing it as not impressive. It was under the disbanded EMT’s watch that Nigeria went through an economic recession which some finance authorities believed was avoidable. Although Nigeria technically exited from the recession, the country’s economic growth is still snail’s slow with a looming economic downturn. The manufacturing sector is still comatose while the naira exchange rate is stable but very low. Unemployment figures keep rising even as implementation of the new minimum wage is still murky several months after it was signed into law.
The EAC must, therefore, quickly come up with practical ways that will promote economic growth, employment generation and revival of industries. There is no time to waste. EAC members should bring their expertise and experience to bear and make a difference within the shortest possible time. We expect this new Council to initiate workable monetary and fiscal policies that will build confidence in Nigerians to invest in Nigeria, rather than outside its shores.