Buhari’s economic summit fails to take off

The national economic conference said to have been convened by President Muhammadu Buhari did not start on Thursday as earlier publicised.

The conference is aimed at rallying the country together to offer solutions to the current economic challenges facing Nigeria.

In announcing Buhari’s approval for the conference on February 25, a government official had said that the event had been tentatively fixed for March 10 and 11.

Investigation by our correspondent on Thursday, however, showed that the conference may not hold this month.

A top government official, who is conversant with the arrangement, told The PUNCH exclusively that the schedule of participants, especially state governors, was part of the factors responsible for the postponement.

He said the event itself being an idea of the National Economic Council, was meant to be more of an expanded NEC session.

The council presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has all state governors and the Central Bank Nigeria Governor, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and some ministers as members.

It has a constitutional role of advising the President on economic matters.

The government official said it was important that the dates to be picked would be when most of the governors would be free to attend.

He said, “It was made clear that the earlier dates announced were tentative dates.

“There were further consultations and I guess most of the major participants are engaged one way or the other for that period.”

“For an event like this, there is the need to allow for full participation. We must ensure that we pick dates that will be acceptable to the majority of them.

“I guess that before the end of the month, a formal announcement will be made on the new dates.”

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, had called on the President to summon an emergency economic meeting to chart a course to save the country from further drift.

Soyinka, who made the call when he visited the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja, had said experts and consumers should be invited to the meeting.

SOURCE: PUNCH NEWSPAPER