Former World Bank Vice President Oby Ezekwesili on Tuesday accused Atiku Abubakar of intentionally misleading Nigerians on the country’s economic growth during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
The ex-Minister of Education and the former Vice President both served in the Olusegun Obasanjo government.
Atiku, who was vice president between 1999 and 2007, had credited himself for the turning around of the country’s economy during the period.
He boasted of his achievements as head of the economic team of the administration from 1999 to 2007 while speaking as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) Dialogue on the Economy where all frontline flagbearers in the 2023 presidential election were invited to speak on their economic plans.
On Monday, Atiku shared excerpts of the comments he made on his Twitter account.
One of his tweets read: “As head of the economic management team, while I was Vice President, I was instrumental in designing a private sector revival strategy and advocated for the opening of the economy for private sector investments in several sectors.
“And we made tremendous progress. #AtikuAtNESG.”
In her response, Ezekwesili who was the pioneer Director General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) dismissed the claim.
“Dear former Vice President Atiku, please ask the handlers of your @Twitter account to stop misleading the public. You were never the Head of the Economic Management Team.
“This absurd Lie does you no good at all. Please ask your Team to stop it”, Ezekwesili wrote.