Senator Dino Melaye, a federal lawmaker in the upper legislative chamber representing Kogi West has outlined what he feels President Muhammadu Buhari must do if he is to save the economy from the downward spiral it currently finds itself.
According to Melaye, the President must sack three core members of his economic team, namely, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, the Minister for Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Leadership News reports.
Melaye reasoned that these three had displayed gross incompetence, inexcusable ineptitude and a distressing lack of capacity to deliver on the mandate of their ministries/Agencies. He then went on to outline on an individual basis exactly how each of them had failed in his/her office
As for the Finance Minister, Melaye accused her of not only displaying gross incompetence, but ‘also lack[ing] the basic and rudimentary grasp of economic fundamentals necessary to run a critical sector of the Nigerian economy like the Finance Ministry.’
Udo Udoma was accused of just being ‘a good man’ but not up to the task of removing Nigeria from the bleak economic situation it currently finds itself while recommending ‘someone with the relevant qualification, professional knowledge and experience in public sector finance, development economics, strategic thinking, budgetary planning and management’ to take over.
Finally, the CBN Governor was accused of ‘disastrous handling and release of the so-called Dasuki-gate funds which amounts to about 15 per cent of the nation’s foreign reserves, policy flip-flops, somersaults and inconsistencies’ which Melaye believes are ‘clear evidence of gross incompetence in the management of the nation’s fiscal and monetary policies’ as exemplified in the sharp fall of the nation’s currency.
He opined that if these changes were made immediately, then all hope was not yet lost, as the current suffering and hunger, which has cast the present administration in a bad light, could be reversed.
Parts of this article originally appeared in Leadership Newspapers.
