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Poor economic management of Buhari’s administration impoverished Nigerians– Ezekwesili
By Modupe Shodeinde
Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has blamed President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for impoverishing Nigerians and weakening the naira with poor economic policies.
The former minister, during a programme on Arise TV, said with the current economic policies of the Federal Government, it could be difficult for Nigeria to come out of recession in the first quarter of 2021.
She also stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria has now become an extension of the Aso Villa, as it has now become politicised.
“The greatest tragedy of the last five years of the country has been the fact that there has been poverty of ideas in terms of economic management. The economic management of this administration has impoverished many more Nigerians.
“The only thing that we associate with the administration that is saying that this year is going to be buoyant for the country is poor economic policies. When you think in terms of monetary policies, the Central Bank has become an extension of the Villa and that is problematic; you can’t have your monetary authority so badly politicised in the way it is currently is and have a sound monetary policy.
She also criticised the President for the decision to close the country’s borders for 15-months.
“You close the border. Precisely for what? Has this government evaluated the effect of that border closure on small businesses in this country? Does this government realise the damage it did to many sectors in this economy as a result of that singular act that just didn’t make any sense.” the ex-minister argued.
She likened this to Buhari’s foreign exchange policy which she said “made us get into a situation where he, in fact, ended murdering the naira”.
Ezekwesili noted that “When the president took over power in 2015, the situation that he had on hand could have been handled differently. The naira could have found good positioning by sort of getting its new level and that signal would have been a clear signal to the private sector that politics was not going to drive pricing levels in our economy, the private sector would have adjusted and we wouldn’t have ended up in a situation where foreign direct investment or portfolio money all escaped from our country and found a safer place to land,”
She advised the President to “face the energy sector and fully implement the spirit and the content of the Power Sector Reform Act and the Reform Plan that was available before he (Buhari) took over office.”
The ex-minister also urged the government to provide enabling platforms for businesses to thrive.
