In an cabinet adjustment, President Bola Tinubu has nominated Taiwo Oyedele as the new Minister of State for Finance. Oyedele is set to succeed Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, who is being reassigned.
In a lateral move, Dr. Uzoka-Anite will transition to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning as Minister of State. This reshuffle marks her third ministerial posting since the inception of the current administration.
A statement on Tuesday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, said: “The president formally submitted Oyedele’s nomination to the Senate via a correspondence addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, seeking approval for the appointment.”
Prior to this elevation, Oyedele, a native of Ikaram in Akoko, Ondo State, led the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, spearheading a major revamp of the nation’s taxation framework.
At 50 years old, Oyedele brings expertise in economics, accounting, and public policy to the role.
His educational journey includes a Higher National Diploma in accountancy and finance from Yaba College of Technology, followed by a BSc in applied accounting from Oxford Brookes University.
Further honing his skills, he pursued executive programs at prestigious institutions such as the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and the Harvard Kennedy School.
Oyedele’s professional path included a 22-year tenure at PwC starting in 2001, where he advanced to Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.
Beyond that, he holds a professorship at Babcock University in Ogun State and serves as a visiting scholar at the Lagos Business School.
Throughout his career, Oyedele has held influential positions across private and government spheres, including Vice Chairman of the National Tax Policy Committee under the Federal Ministry of Finance, where he influenced nationwide tax changes.
On a regional level, he chaired the High-Level Think-Tank for the West Africa Union of Tax Institutes on the ECOWAS Integration Project.
He also acts as Thematic Lead for the Fiscal Policy and Planning Commission and heads the West Africa Debt Management Roundtable within the Nigerian Economic Summit Group.
Oyedele has offered advisory services to the World Bank and chairs the Taxation and Fiscal Policy Faculty Board at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
In July 2023, after leaving PwC, President Tinubu appointed him to chair the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms.
Under his guidance, the committee advocated for a consolidated Nigerian Revenue Service to supplant multiple tax bodies, targeting a rise in the tax-to-GDP ratio from about 10% to no less than 18% over three years.
By May 2025, the Senate approved four tax reform legislations drawn from the committee’s recommendations, encompassing the setup of the Nigeria Revenue Service and updates to VAT and petroleum royalty structures.
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