A renowned economist and the Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company, Bismark Rewane, has revealed that the late President Muhammadu Buhari had a phobia for economic reforms.
Rewane, who was part of Buhari’s economic team, disclosed this in a Channels Television programme in honour of the late ex-president.
Rewane noted that by the time Buhari inaugurated his cabinet, the country had been hit badly by the external economy, where the global price of crude dropped to $40 per barrel from $110.
He added that ex-president Buhari’s economy team was overwhelmed and ill-prepared to tackle the numerous challenges the country faced.
“It took Buhari six months to appoint his cabinet. He was scared of reforms.
“He has a phobia for reforms based on his antecedent when he was in the military.
“He was very cautious, many times too cautious. By the time he sent his cabinet, the external economy had become so volatile. The price of oil dropped to $40 per barrel from $110, so the circumstances were out of his and Nigeria’s control.
“We were not prepared and mobilised; therefore, we were slow to respond to the crisis, and it hit us badly,” he said.
Buhari, Nigeria’s democratic president from 2015 to 2023, was given a state burial in his hometown, Daura, Katsina State, on Tuesday following his death at the London Clinic on Sunday, July 13, 2025.