President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Dr. Doyin Salami to serve as his first Chief Economic Adviser.
The administration has witnessed two recessions in less than seven years of its reign with the country taking a bottom position in key economic indices – unemployment and inflation among many others.
The administration has also been consistently knocked for its lacklustre management of the economy and dreary outputs of its policies, though the administration has consistently claimed to have inherited a “dying” economy.
However, all along, the office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President had remained unoccupied. But two years ago, Salami, 59, a frontline economic scholar, was picked to head a Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), which many said was established without reference to the National Economic Council (NEC) headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Salami, a 1989 doctorate graduate in economics of Queen Mary College, University of London, until his recent appointment, was Managing Director and Head, Markets Practice, at KAINOS Edge Consulting Limited. He was also a member of the Adjunct Faculty at the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan-Atlantic University, where he recently attained the rank of a senior fellow/associate professor.
According to a statement issued by Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the Chief Economic Adviser to the President (CEAP) is expected to address all issues on the domestic economy and present views on them to the President.
The statement further said that Salami would closely monitor national and international developments, trends and develop appropriate policy responses and make recommendations to the President. He is also expected to pay attention to national economic policies to foster macro-economic stability, promote growth, create jobs and eradicate poverty.
He was a member of the monetary policy committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Government’s economic management team.