The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for selecting Nigeria’s best to form his new economic team.
The President yesterday constituted an Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to help him steer the Nigerian economy on the path of sustainable growth.
In his reaction to Buhari’s unveiling of the members of the council, who are core professionals, the eminent traditional ruler and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said that it was the best decision the President had taken in his second term in office.
Sanusi stated that the team would add a lot of value to the administration’s policy and strategy, and would also be frank and honest in its advice to Buhari.
He said: “In my opinion this is the single most important decision taken by the President in his second term with great potential for turning the economy around. The team he has assembled is first class by all standards and each and everyone of them is held in high regard by all our professional colleagues.
“He also has put together a team with balance. In there you have experts in macroeconomics, monetary policy, fiscal policy, development theory and financial markets. I can think of no better team of advisers at this point and we look forward to discussing and debating with and encouraging them as they serve the nation and the President.
“The President deserves to be praised on this decision and supported. It is evidence of commitment to focus on the economy. This team will add a lot of value to policy and strategy and will also be frank and honest in its advice. I honestly have not been so excited about prospect on the economy as I am today and you know me. I do not dish out praise,” he concluded.
The council, which reports directly to the president, replaces the Economic Management Team (EMT), which was under Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Among others, the new council will advise Buhari on the 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
The special adviser on media to the president, Mr. Femi Adesina, who announced the coming on board of the EAC, named the chairman as Prof. Doyin Salami and Dr. Mohammed Sagagi as the vice chairman. Other members are Prof. Ode Ojowu, Dr. Shehu Yahaya, Dr. Iyabo Masha, former Central Bank Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, and Mr. Bismark Rewane as members.
There is also on the council, Dr. Mohammed Adaya Salisu, secretary, who is currently the senior special assistant to the President on Development Policy.
Adesina, in a statement he issued in Abuja yesterday, said that the advisory council replaces the current Economic Management Team (EMT) and would be reporting directly to the president.
He said: “The Economic Advisory Council (EAC) will advise the president on economic policy matters, including fiscal analysis, economic growth and a range of internal and global economic issues working with the relevant cabinet members and heads of monetary and fiscal agencies.
“The EAC will have monthly technical sessions as well as scheduled quarterly meetings with the president. The chairman may, however, request for unscheduled meetings if the need arises,” he added.
Dr. Salami is co-founder and partner at Kainos Edge Consulting and a member of the adjunct faculty at the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan Atlantic University, where he leads sessions in Economic Environment of Business.
He was appointed by the late President Umar Yar’Adua as a member of the federal government of Nigeria’s Economic Management Team in 2006 and had served as a member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 2010 to 2017 after completing two tenures. As managing partner of Edward Kingston Associates, a firm of economic consultants, Salami has led a team to build a macroeconomic model of the Nigerian economy.
Bismarck Rewane is the managing director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited. With more than 30 years’ experience as an economist, banker and financial analyst he has served on the boards of many companies within and outside Nigeria.
Professor Chukwuma Soludo, an economics professor is synonymous with the Nigerian banking sector consolidation when he was the governor and chairman of the board of directors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2004.
A member of the British Department for International Development’s International Advisory Group, Soludo also worked as a consultant for a number of international organisations, including the World Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the United Nations Development Programme.
Dr Muhammad Sagagi, a doctor of philosophy and economics is the political economy and conflict analysis manager at the Department for International Development (DFID)-funded Northern Nigeria Skills Training Programme.
He served as the director-general and chief executive of Jigawa State Investment Promotion Agency (InvestJigawa).
Prof. Ode Ojowu was in 2004 appointed the chief executive of the National Planning Commission (NPC) and chief economic adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. A professor of economics at the University of Jos (UNIJOS), he has held positions at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In 2008, Ojowu was appointed head of the Governing Council of the Benue State University where he is currently serving his second term.
Dr. Shehu Yahaya is the chairman of the Board of Directors of Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) Plc, with an outstanding career in the academia and development finance. He has held several management and executive positions, including executive director of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and member, Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN.
Before joining the AfDB, he served as deputy general manager at Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM). He was a lecturer in macroeconomics at the Department of Economics in the University of Sussex, United Kingdom (UK) and head of Economics Department in Bayero University Kano (BUK).
Dr Iyabo Masha is a global economist with a demonstrable history of working in central banking and financial markets, economic management, international lending, finance and development with strong focus on macroeconomic stabilisation policy research and implementation.
She served as a representative of the IMF in more than 10 emerging markets in Asian and African countries with focus on comprehensive economic management including policy reform advisory services and dialogue with governments, financing and lending programmes, analytic research and economic modelling and forecasting.
