President Bola Tinubu on Monday, swore in Taiwo Oyedele as Minister of State for Finance, marking a key addition to his economic team in ongoing tax and several other reforms.
The brief ceremony held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, five days after the Senate confirmed Oyedele’s nomination through a voice vote.
President Tinubu during the event hailed Oyedele as a transformative force in the country’s tax policy, describing the swearing-in as “a very, very good day.”
He credited Oyedele with overhauling the country’s “obsolete, archaic” tax framework, which he said had run counter to progressive ideals.
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“You have rewritten the entire tax policy of this country,” the president said.
“You are just a very dedicated and highly determined individual.”
“It didn’t take much for me to decide where you fit and where you need to be to further help the country,” he said.
“It is a very challenging job to look at the fiscal policy and responsibility that comes with it, at a time that economic stability is being experienced, but without exponential growth.”
The President also extended congratulations to Mr. Oyedele’s wife, acknowledging the personal sacrifices involved. “I congratulate your wife for having been able to stand our challenge of time management and absence, you know, for long hours,” he said.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the approval following a two-hour screening by the Committee of the whole.
President Tinubu had nominated the 50-year-old fiscal expert from Ikaram Akoko in Ondo State on March 3, citing Section 147(2) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution.
Oyedele steps into the role with more than two decades in tax policy, most recently as chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, launched in August 2023.
His panel’s work yielded four bills—consolidating over 60 taxes into fewer than 10—that the National Assembly passed last year.
President Tinubu signed the tax bills into law on June 26, 2025, with effects starting January 1.
NewsQuest reports that key changes include zero income tax for earners below 800,000 naira annually and exemptions for small businesses with turnovers under 50 million naira from company income tax, capital gains tax, and withholding tax. The reforms also offer incentives for hiring and wage hikes.
A former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner and Africa tax leader, Oyedele holds qualifications from Yaba College of Technology, Oxford Brookes University, and executive programs at institutions like Harvard Kennedy School and Yale.
Oyedele teaches as a professor at Babcock University and serves as a visiting scholar at Lagos Business School.
He replaces Doris Uzoka-Anite, now the Minister of State for Budget and Economic Planning, her third post in President Tinubu’s cabinet.
During his Senate screening, Oyedele called the nomination “a call to serve at a critical time,” drawing on his private-sector, academic, and policy experience to tackle Nigeria’s fiscal hurdles.
