A former Vice President of the World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, has said that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, never headed the Economic Management Team under former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, accusing him of lying.
The reaction by Ezekwesil, who was also a former Minister of Education under the Obasanjo administration, follows an earlier statement by Atiku where he claimed that as head of the economic management team, while as vice president, he was instrumental in the designing of a private sector revival strategy among others.
The clarification by Oby Ezekwesili is contained in a series of tweet posts on her official Twitter account on Monday, where she accused him and his aides of misleading the public.
Atiku says he headed the economic management team
Atiku and his supporters have as part of their campaign message, always claimed that the former vice president was in charge of the economy under the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 to 2007, and was responsible for most of the economic progress made under that administration.
Atiku in a tweet post said, ‘’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.’’
Ezekwesili accuse Atiku of lying
However, Ezekwesili, who appears to have none of that said 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 said, ‘’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 do you no good at all. Please ask your Team to stop it. Happy New Year. Wish you well.’’
She added, ‘’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.’’
