KEY POINTS
- Wale Edun and Ahmed Musa Dangiwa resigned from Tinubu’s cabinet on their own, the presidency says.
- Edun cited health reasons after turning 70; Taiwo Oyedele takes over the finance brief.
- Muttaqha Rabe Darma will be nominated as housing minister, pending Senate confirmation.
Wale Edun, the man who steered Nigeria’s finances through the most turbulent stretch of President Bola Tinubu’s economic overhaul, has walked away from the cabinet on his own terms. The presidency said Wednesday he resigned, putting an end to days of speculation that the president sacked him.
Edun, who turned 70 on Monday, April 20, submitted his resignation letter on his birthday before Tinubu announced his replacement. Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, laid out the sequence in a statement on X, saying the former finance minister cited health reasons for stepping aside.
In his letter, Edun thanked the president and praised the administration’s economic record. “It has been a pleasure and privilege to serve your administration and the Renewed Hope Agenda,” Edun wrote. “Under your leadership, Nigeria has emerged stronger, more resilient and more internationally respected. I wish you and the administration every success in the future.”
Edun, a London-trained economist and longtime Tinubu ally, has held the dual role of finance minister and coordinating minister of the economy since the administration took office in 2023. He spent much of that time defending the controversial fuel subsidy removal and the unification of the naira exchange rate.
Onanuga also said Edun paid a valedictory visit to the president at the Presidential Villa before stepping out. Now, the former minister plans to return to his private business interests, the statement added.
Dangiwa walks too
Similarly, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, who oversaw housing and urban development, also handed in his resignation. He thanked the president for the chance to serve in the Federal Executive Council, the presidency said. Beyond that, the statement gave no specific reason for his departure. Dangiwa, an architect and former managing director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, joined the cabinet in 2023.
Tinubu, in turn, thanked both men for their service and contributions to his economic reform program.
The president “expressed deep appreciation to Edun and Dangiwa for their dedicated service and significant contributions to the administration’s economic reform program,” the statement said.
A new face at finance
Meanwhile, Tinubu has handed the finance brief to Taiwo Oyedele, the chartered tax adviser who chaired the president’s high-profile tax reform committee. Additionally, the president urged Oyedele to keep the reform agenda moving without skipping a beat.
Oyedele should “consolidate ongoing reforms and advance the administration’s fiscal and economic objectives with renewed focus, discipline, and innovation,” Tinubu said.
Furthermore, the president plans to send the nomination of Muttaqha Rabe Darma as minister of housing to the Senate for confirmation in the coming days.
The clarification comes after days of swirling speculation about a wider cabinet shake-up. Critics had read the abrupt announcements as proof that the administration was under pressure to clean house. However, the presidency insists the moves reflect personal decisions, not political fallout.
With the new appointments, Tinubu now faces the harder task of keeping the reform engine running while managing public expectations of stability inside his cabinet ahead of the 2027 election cycle.
