Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, former chief economic adviser to late President Umaru<\/p>\n
Musa Yar\u2019Adua, is facing serious opposition over his imminent membership
\nof the policy think-tank of Muhammadu Buhari, presidential candidate of
\nthe All Progressives Congress (APC).<\/p>\n
Since TheCable reported that the economics graduate of Wagner College, New
\nYork, US, was tipped to head the economic policy directorate of the Buhari
\nCampaign Organisation, the former head of state and senior APC chieftains
\nhave been inundated with calls by concerned Nigerians who kicked against
\nKurfi\u2019s membership. An APC official who spoke with TheCable said it is
\ngoing to send the wrong signals if Kurfi plays any major role in the
\nBuhari team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am aware that many well-meaning Nigerians have been expressing worries
\nover Yakubu. Buhari has not told any of us categorically that Yakubu is
\nhis choice to head the team. He is already aware of the possible
\nrepercussion,\u201d the official said. The head of the policy think-tank is
\nexpected to end up holding a major position in government if Buhari wins
\nthe presidential election next year.<\/p>\n
Membership of the committee has not been officially announced but TheCable
\nreported that two former commissioners in Lagos state, Wale Edun and Yemi
\nCardoso, have been nominated by Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos and
\nnational leader of APC. It is also said that Rotimi Amaechi, the governor
\nof Rivers state who is the director-general of the campaign organisation,
\nis not aware of the nominations.<\/p>\n
A commissioner from the state told TheCable that Amaechi has his own list
\nof credible and knowledgeable Nigerians who can work with Buhari to
\nproduce an economic blueprint. \u201cHis input will certainly be sought. He has
\nhis own candidates.<\/p>\n
The only fair conclusion is that the team is still being put together, but
\nof course General Buhari will have the final say,\u201d he said. Kurfi, who is
\nfrom Katsina state like Buhari and has been close to the retired major
\ngeneral for decades, is not in the good books of many because of his role
\nin the Yar\u2019Adua government. Seen as the most powerful political appointee
\nof Yar\u2019Adua, he was held responsible for the stalling of many projects
\ninitiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo allegedly because of
\npersonal interest.<\/p>\n
He was said to have stalled the execution of power projects, Kano-Lagos
\nrail modernisation and the renewal of oil mining licences of multinational
\noil companies. Kurfi was also said to have shot down several bills on
\nprivatisation sent to Yar\u2019Adua by the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE),
\nand was even held responsible for the reversal of the sale of Warri and
\nKaduna refineries to a company owned by Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola.<\/p>\n
In an American embassy cable leaked by whistle-blowing Wikileaks, Sanusi
\nLamido Sanusi, former governor of the central bank, allegedly described
\nYakubu as a \u201cterrible economist\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, former chief economic adviser to late President Umaru Musa Yar\u2019Adua, is facing serious opposition over his imminent membership of the policy think-tank of Muhammadu Buhari, presidential candidate…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n