Senate Confirms Taiwo Oyedele As Minister

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed renowned tax expert, Taiwo Oyedele, as Minister of State for Finance, charging him to deploy his expertise in fiscal policy reforms to strengthen government revenue generation and improve economic management.

The confirmation followed his screening by the Red Chamber sitting as the Committee of the Whole, presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

Lawmakers expressed confidence in Oyedele’s competence, professional pedigree and track record, noting that his experience in tax policy and fiscal reforms would be critical to the country’s economic direction.

During the screening session, which lasted more than two hours, the nominee assured senators that he would work with relevant stakeholders to pursue reforms aimed at expanding revenue sources, improving budget implementation and aligning fiscal policies with Nigeria’s industrialisation and economic growth objectives.

He also acknowledged public concerns about the utilisation of tax revenues.

Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, raised concerns about Nigeria’s poor revenue returns from its vast solid mineral deposits and asked the nominee how the Federal Government could better harness the sector.

Jibrin said: “Apart from taxation, we have an issue. We have solid minerals scattered all over the country, but when we look at our revenue profile, we don’t see much coming from that sector.

“What will you do differently to enable us to harness revenue from the exploration and exploitation of these God-given endowments?”

In his response, Oyedele admitted that Nigeria had historically placed excessive emphasis on taxation and oil and gas revenues, leaving other potential sources underdeveloped.

“For many years as a country, we have disproportionately focused on taxation and oil and gas, and that has taken our attention away from other areas where we can generate revenue,” he said.

He identified policy uncertainty as a major factor discouraging investments in the solid minerals sector.

“What we have identified is that the biggest impediment to the growth of the solid minerals sector is policy uncertainty,” he said.

According to him, creating a stable and predictable policy environment would encourage investors and boost revenue from the sector.

“The team and the Minister for Solid Minerals have been doing a lot, but we need to complement that with policy certainty. We may be coming to the National Assembly in this regard because once we fix the policy environment, other issues become easier to address,” he added.

Oyedele also cited the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas project as an example of how legislative backing can unlock large-scale investments.

“When it was time for Nigeria LNG to invest, there were concerns due to uncertainty. But once the National Assembly provided guarantees through legislation, we began to see results,” he said.

Other senators who participated in the screening included Adams Oshiomhole, Tahir Monguno, Yahaya Abdullahi, Jimoh Ibrahim and Jide Ipinsagbe.

In his remarks, Akpabio described Oyedele as a highly competent technocrat whose expertise would benefit the country.

He commended President Bola Tinubu for the nomination and expressed confidence that Oyedele would translate his experience into practical policies capable of strengthening Nigeria’s economy.

Following the screening, the Senate confirmed 50-year-old Oyedele, clearing the way for his swearing-in as Minister of State for Finance.