Obi hails Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment to SA economic team

Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections, Dr Peter Obi, has described as deserving and highly rewarding the recent appointment of the former World Bank Managing Director, and former Minister of Finance of Nigeria, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as a member of the South African Economic Advisory Council.
Obi was speaking on Saturday during a brief chat with journalists at the Domestic Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
The former Anambra State Governor noted that by the appointment South Africa has picked an experienced and committed economic manager.
He added that by the choice of Okonjo-Iweala, South Africa had put a square peg in a square hole, which he described as a “veritable move towards the restoration of her troubled economy.”
Obi recalled nostalgically how Okonjo-Iweala’s efforts to save the Nigerian economy for the future came to nought when the Nigerian Governors’ Forum refused her fervent cry, called her names and even went to court to stop her from saving the huge sum in the excess crude account in Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund for the rainy day and the future of the country’s children.
He described Okonjo-Iweala as “an exceptional personality and first class ambassador of our country Nigeria and one whose commitment to a better society remains outstanding.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose country recently plunged into recession, appointed the former Nigerian Coordinating Minister for the Economy into his powerful advisory team to turn around the nation’s dwindling economy.