Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari & Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo
Nigeria's newly constituted Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) have been charged by President Muhammadu Buhari to focus on developing reliable data that would properly reflect what is happening in the country.
The council, chaired by renowned economist Doyin Salami was constituted on Sept. 16, to replace the Economic Management Team (EMT), chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Speaking in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, Buhari, who set an agenda of what they should accomplish in the shortest possible time, described the task before the 8-man council as "most important national assignment".
"Yes, Nigeria has exited the recession. But our reported growth rate is still not fast enough to create the jobs we need to meet our national ambition of collective prosperity," he said.
"However, it was very clear to me after we exited the recession that we needed to re-energize our economic growth plans. This is what I expect from you," the president added.
Buhari urged the council to proffer solutions on how to move the country and economy forward.
He directed the council to coordinate and synthesis ideas and efforts on how to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years, working in collaboration with various employment generating agencies of government.
The president told his audience that some of the statistics relating to Nigeria are wild estimates and bear little relation to the facts on the ground, saying this is disturbing.
"We can only plan realistically when we have reliable data. As you are aware, as a government, we prioritized agriculture as a critical sector to create jobs and bring prosperity to our rural communities," Buhari said.
He said the absence of reliable data is hindering Nigeria's ability to upgrade these programs and assure their sustainability.
