Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu Tuesday sacked his finance minister and replaced him with a junior minister, as he seeks to shore up support for his sweeping economic reforms ahead of next year’s general elections.
Wale Edun, 70, who served as finance commissioner during Tinubu’s first-term tenure as Lagos governor between 1999 and 2004, was replaced by Taiwo Oyedele, 50, a former PricewaterhouseCoopers tax expert.
Oyedele, who only resumed as junior finance minister on March 16, played a central role in the administration’s tax overhaul, which took effect at the start of the year.
A statement from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, announcing Edun’s removal gave no reason for the decision.
“All handing over and taking over processes should be completed on or before close of business on Thursday,” the statement said.
The reshuffle comes as Tinubu looks to shore up support for his economic reforms ahead of next year’s general election. Nigeria is grappling with inflation, weak currency and the impact of fiscal changes introduced by the current administration.
Analysts say Oyedele’s appointment shows Tinubu is looking to steady implementation while pushing ahead with the reforms.
Rumours of Edun’s imminent exit began last year when local media reported in October that he had been ill, with Tinubu’s media adviser Bayo Onanuga saying at the time that the minister had been “only indisposed”.
He championed several reforms in the Tinubu administration, including the decision that all revenues from petroleum operations be paid directly into the federation account to plug leakages.
The decision barred the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited from making deductions from oil proceeds.
The oil giant, structured like Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, has long been accused of opaque operations and corruption, with Edun saying a forensic audit of the company was underway.
He has also been vocal about the perils of a high-interest rate environment in developing economies, saying it could hurt economic reforms.
