The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the appointment of Dr. Doyin Salami as the Chief Economic Adviser to the President as “a design to make the economist a scapegoat for the abysmal failures of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government.”

The opposition party, in a statement by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, on Wednesday, said a professional like Dr. Salami can never make a change in the economic sector because of the APC’s insensitiveness to the plight of Nigerians.

Ologunagba, who noted that President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC have never prioritized the economy, stated that the administration desperately used Salami as a “fall guy” ahead of the 2023 general election.

He said: “It is evident that Dr. Salami might end up being rubbished and diminished as a titular adviser given that the Buhari Presidency and the APC, in their ignorance, arrogance and incompetence, are never known to have any respect or regard for professional advice on governance and policy.

“As long as the APC, with its insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians is in government, involved professionals like Dr. Salami can never make headway but risk being smeared with failure.

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“If the APC government did not listen to Dr. Salami as the Head of the hurriedly established Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), it will not now take his advice in his new capacity because the APC government lacks the listening ears, competence, capacity, integrity and political will and desire for good governance.

“President Buhari and the APC have never prioritized the economy. The result is a near collapsed economy with two recessions within six years; a 71 per cent poverty rate, 33.1 per cent unemployment rate, over $38 billion external debt and an unenviable national status as the poverty capital of the world. For this, they desperately seek to use renowned professionals like Dr. Salami as fall guys especially as we approach the 2023 general election.

“If President Buhari and the APC had listened to well-thought-out advice by patriotic Nigerians as well as the PDP on how to stabilize and grow the economy, our nation would not be in the current economic quagmire where over 80 million Nigerians can no longer afford their daily meals and other basic necessities of life.”

The PDP added that: “Dr. Salami should therefore protect his image by advising President Buhari to end his reckless borrowing and grow the economy by allowing for more transparency, redirecting the resources being siphoned by APC leaders to critical sectors of the economy, especially power and agriculture and giving hardworking Nigerians, especially the youth, greater incentives for active participation in the national economy.

“For emphasis our party admonishes Dr. Salami to note that his task of advising an incompetent, arrogant and corrupt administration would be gruelling if not a complete waste of time.”

TheStar