President Muhammed Buhari, on Sunday, said that he was not comfortable with the inclusion of the private sector in the work of the national economic management team, saying that they might steer government policies to suit their own personal interest.
This was contained in a statement released by the Presidency, noting that Buhari made this known during an interview with a magazine, The Interview.
During the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, members of the private sector, such as Tony Elumelu, Atedo Peterside, Aliko Dangote, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Femi Otedola, were part of the economic management team.
Buhari, in reacting to allegation that he has no economic team, said, “The Vice-President heads our Economic Management Team.
“You have Finance Minister, Budget and Planning Minister, Minister for Industry, Trade and Investments, Governor at the Central Bank, National Economic Adviser and others. Some still ask for a team. I don’t know how they define the word ‘team.’
“We will listen to everybody but we are averse to economic team whose private sector members frequently steer government policy to suit their own narrow interests rather than the over-all national interest.”
The President said that he hopes to change the way things are done in Nigeria, saying that is the only way he could make Nigeria better.
“My wish is that we will truly change the way we do things in Nigeria. Therein lies the future of our country as a great entity.
“I also wish for a fully diversified Nigerian economy which is no longer dependent on oil only and a Nigeria where every Naira that comes into the treasury is used for the good of the people, particularly, the ordinary people.”
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