KEY POINTS

• President Tinubu has nominated Taiwo Oyedele as minister of state for finance and sent his name to the Senate for confirmation.

• Doris Uzoka-Anite will move to the ministry of budget and planning, marking her third portfolio under the administration.

• Oyedele, a tax and fiscal policy expert and former PwC partner, previously chaired the presidential tax reform committee.

President Bola Tinubu has nominated Taiwo Oyedele as minister of state for finance, signaling a possible shift toward deeper fiscal reforms within his administration.

Oyedele currently serves as chairman of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, the body set up in July 2023 to overhaul Nigeria’s tax system. His nomination has been forwarded to the Senate for confirmation.

In a statement issued Tuesday, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said the president had written to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, formally requesting legislative approval for the appointment.

If confirmed, Oyedele will take over from Doris Uzoka-Anite, who is expected to move to the ministry of budget and planning as minister of state. The redeployment marks her third assignment under Tinubu’s administration.

Uzoka-Anite was first appointed minister of industry, trade and investment in August 2023 before she was moved to serve as minister of state for finance in November 2024.

The latest reshuffle underscores ongoing adjustments within the economic team as the administration seeks to stabilize public finances and boost revenue generation.

From tax reform chair to finance ministry

Oyedele, 50, is widely known in policy and corporate circles as an economist, accountant and public finance expert.

He earned a Higher National Diploma in accountancy and finance from Yaba College of Technology and later obtained a BSc in applied accounting from Oxford Brookes University. He has also completed executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Gordon Institute of Business Science and the Harvard Kennedy School.

Before joining government, Oyedele spent 22 years at PwC, where he rose to become fiscal policy partner and Africa tax leader. His experience in tax advisory and fiscal policy has shaped much of the current administration’s tax reform proposals.

Beyond corporate practice, he is also a professor at Babcock University in Ogun state and a visiting scholar at the Lagos Business School.

Since his appointment in July 2023 as head of the fiscal policy and tax reforms committee, Oyedele has been central to proposals aimed at simplifying Nigeria’s tax structure, broadening the tax base and improving compliance.

His nomination to the finance ministry is expected to strengthen coordination between policy design and implementation, particularly as the government pushes reforms to improve revenue and reduce fiscal deficits.

The Senate is expected to consider his nomination in the coming days.