Oyedele Sworn in as Minister

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sworn in Taiwo Oyedele as Nigeria’s Minister of State for Finance. Oyedele took the oath of office before the president at the Presidential Villa on Monday.

Tinubu had nominated him for the role to replace Doris Uzoka-Anite, who was reassigned as Minister of State for Budget and National Planning.

Eight days after the nomination, the Nigerian Senate confirmed Oyedele as minister-designate under the Tinubu administration. He was cleared by lawmakers by a voice vote in the Committee of the Whole after hours of screening.

Oyedele, a former chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, described his nomination as a call to serve the country.

“With over two decades of experience working with national governments, multilateral institutions, and global corporations, my journey across the private sector, academia, and public policy has focused on fiscal governance and economic transformation.

“However, this moment is not about personal accomplishments; it is a call to serve at a critical time when Nigeria faces significant fiscal challenges and remarkable opportunities,” the 50-year-old said while addressing senators.

He added that his long experience working on global reforms related to the ease of doing business and taxation across 180 countries had prepared him for the position.

“I feel my background has prepared me to help my country by understanding what works globally and how to apply those lessons to our unique context,” he said.

The public policy expert, accountant and economist was appointed by Tinubu to chair the tax reform committee in July 2023.

The committee’s work led to four major tax reform laws: the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill, which were passed by the National Assembly after months of debate and signed into law by Tinubu on 26 June 2025.

Oyedele previously served as fiscal policy partner and Africa tax leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He attended Yaba College of Technology, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma in Accountancy and Finance, and later earned a BSc in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University.

His academic development also included executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, Gordon Institute of Business Science and the Harvard Kennedy School.

Oyedele is also a professor at Babcock University in Ogun State and serves as a visiting scholar at Lagos Business School.