Obiageli EzekwesiliOby Ezekwesili, who was minister of education in the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has asked the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar to stop telling Nigerians that he ever headed the Economic Management Team of that government.
Ezwkwesili, who was once the President of the World Bank, in a series of tweet posts on her official Tweeter today, January 17, insisted that Atiku never headed the economic management team but was just the Chairman of the National Economic Council, which he was constitutionally empowered to head.
She wrote: “Dear former Vice President Atiku, please ask the handlers of your Twitter account to stop misleading the public. You were never the Head of the Economic Management Team. This absurd Lie does you no good at all. Please ask your Team to stop it. Happy New Year. Wish you well.
“The National Economic Council which former Vice President Atiku constitutionally chaired and now by Professor Osinbajo is really an advisory organ that provides an opportunity for the Federal Government and States of the Federation to discuss our Economy for coordination purposes.
“The 1999 Constitution also has the Vice President as the Chairperson of the National Council on Privatization. In that capacity, it is the duty of the Vice President to supervise the work of the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) on behalf of the President.
“Let me end on the note that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his supporters should appreciate this elucidation and sincere clarification of the distinction between the Presidential Economic Management Team on the one hand, and the National Economic Council on the other…..
‘’Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar can delete the tweet I reacted to and duly lay claim to having chaired the National Economic Council at which he and State Governors met monthly. “Do not confuse this anymore with the Economic Management Team. I hope others also learned something.’’
She was reacting to Atiku, who she said, together with his supporters have always claimed that he was in charge of the economy between 1999 to 2007, and was responsible for most of the economic progress made under that administration.
Ezekwesili quoted Atiku as saying: “as head of the economic management team while I was Vice President, I was instrumental in designing a private sector revival strategy and advocated for the opening of the economy for private sector investments in several sectors. And we made tremendous progress.”
Source: Nairametrics.
