Spokesperson of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has said minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Taiwo Oyedele, may not have the appropriate educational background to manage the economy of Nigeria.
Abdullahi disclosed this on Monday, in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, while speaking on the federal government’s 30-day fuel price reduction initiative.
He stated that subsidy policies were ideological and that economic decisions should be guided by the right expertise.
“I’m not saying he’s incompetent, but I think he doesn’t have the right education,” he said.
“Because, look, the issue of subsidy is ideological. And we have to understand where you are coming from. I mean, I’m talking about an economy, this Nigerian economy.
Abdullahi stated that he was not attacking Oyedele personally, pointing out that he respected him and considered him intelligent.
“No, I’m not going personal. Like I said, I have utmost respect for him. And I think he’s quite a smart guy. I’m not taking that away from him,” he said.
“But what I’m saying is that the way an accountant reviews an economy is not the same way an economist reviews it. And the same way a classical economist would look at it is not the way a development economist would look at it.
“We need people who are trained to do this job to do it.”
Oyedele holds a higher national diploma (HND) in accountancy and finance from Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) and a bachelor’s degree in applied accounting at the Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom (UK).
He completed executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, Gordon Institute of Business Science and Harvard Kennedy School.
Prior to his appointment as minister of state for finance, Oyedele spent 22 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he rose to become the firm’s first fiscal policy partner and Africa tax leader.
Oyedele pronounced last Thursday that the federal government would make available a 30-day discount on petrol sold at filling stations operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
He stated that transporters would receive priority, adding that the measure was not a subsidy but an arrangement for the government to sell petrol at cost.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar did accuse President Bola Tinubu of making use of his petrol subsidy proposal but limiting the measure to a 30-day discount.
Atiku, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, said Tinubu had previously described him as ignorant of economic policy when he proposed targeted support to reduce fuel costs.
Atiku further said that the Tinubu administration had dismissed his proposal as unworkable.
