KEY POINTS
- Finance Minister Wale Edun travels to UK for treatment.
- Presidency confirms illness but denies stroke rumours.
- No plans to replace Edun, sources say
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has travelled to the United Kingdom to receive medical attention, multiple government sources confirmed on Tuesday.
The report, first published by Western Post, was later verified by officials who said that Edun left Abuja for Lagos on Monday night before boarding a British Airways flight to London.
“It’s true, he has left already,” one source familiar with the development said, confirming that the minister had sought treatment abroad after earlier consultations with Nigerian doctors. Until his departure, Presidency officials had maintained that the 69-year-old minister was recuperating at his Abuja residence, under close medical supervision.
Presidency confirms illness, denies replacement plans
A senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Edun had been unwell but stressed that contrary to circulating reports, “it’s not a stroke.”
“Yes, he’s indisposed. He’s sick, which is a bit serious, but it’s not a stroke,” the source said on Sunday, adding that doctors would recommend foreign medical care if necessary — a decision that has now been made.
Another aide said President Bola Tinubu was receiving regular updates on Edun’s health but had no plans to replace him.
The President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed that the minister had fallen ill and was first treated in Nigeria.
“Yes, he’s indisposed. Wale Edun is about 69 years old. He suddenly fell ill. As we are talking, he is in Nigeria. He’s recuperating. He’s around,” Onanuga had said on Sunday.
The Presidency has already announced that Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso would lead Nigeria’s delegation to the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C., which begin today.
A key player in Tinubu’s economic reform drive
Appointed on August 28, 2023, Edun has been one of the chief architects of President Tinubu’s sweeping economic reforms overseeing the removal of petrol subsidies, the unification of the foreign exchange market, and fiscal measures to stabilise the naira and curb inflation.
A former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance under Tinubu from 1999 to 2004, Edun co-founded the investment firm Denham Management Limited before joining the federal cabinet.
As of press time, the Ministry of Finance had yet to release an official statement regarding his medical trip or expected return date.
