(President Tinubu. Photo by Facebook)
President Tinubu authorized the dismissal of Wale Edun and his Ministry of Housing counterpart, Ahmed Dangiwa, according to a statement released by George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The news of Wale Edun’s dismissal as Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy caught many Nigerians off guard on Tuesday night.
President Bola Tinubu authorized the dismissal of Mr. Edun and Minister of Housing and Urban Development Ahmed Dangiwa in a minor cabinet reorganization, according to a statement released by Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume.
Taiwo Oyedele, a recent appointment as Minister of State for Finance, was promptly promoted to Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy by the president.
Additionally, he appointed Muttaqha Darma as the Minister-designate for Urban Development and Housing.
In August 2023, Mr. Tinubu chose Mr. Edun to supervise Nigeria’s economic planning and fiscal policy, continuing a collaboration that started in Lagos when Mr. Edun was commissioner for finance from 1999 to 2004, during Mr. Tinubu’s tenure as governor of the Southwest state.
Insiders claimed that there had been tension between the two for a while, despite the fact that he was regarded as one of the president’s top men due to his strategic position in the cabinet and his prior relationship with the president in Lagos.
The administration’s sluggish budget planning and low capital budget disbursements, which have repeatedly interrupted the nation’s January-to-December budget cycle, were the main causes of the tension.
The president is reportedly bombarded with complaints from parliamentarians and ministries on the inadequate release of funding for capital budgets.
Despite the National Assembly’s approval of a N1.15 trillion request to fund capital components, Mr. Edun was accused by federal MPs in February of recording “zero implementation” of the 2025 capital budget.
The MPs noted numerous grievances regarding unpaid contractors and financial shortfalls from ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
Citing a failure to fulfill promised capital releases, opposition MPs also threatened to pursue the dismissal of Mr. Edun and the Federation’s Accountant-General.
Mr. Edun defended himself by stating that the government was concentrating on debt payment and had discontinued the “unsustainable” practice of “printing money” to pay contractors.
He later assured that 80 per cent of the 2024 budget had been implemented and that 2025 capital releases were progressing toward a December 2025 completion target. Insiders said the president intervened with the economic team on several occasions but was not satisfied with the responses.
Matters got to a head between the two when they had an altercation over the issue at a Federal Executive Council meeting on 10 December, 2025. The exchanges created such tension that the ADC to the president reportedly had to move over to Mr Edun to advise him against raising his voice at the president.
“From that point, it seemed that his (Mr Edun’s) goose was cooked,” said an official who witnessed the incident at the Council Chamber of the presidential villa. Shortly after, the president devolved some of the minister’s responsibilities to the office of the Minister of State for Finance, then occupied by Doris Uzoka-Anite.
Insiders said from that point on, the president had begun considering options for the strategic portfolio.
Despite his best efforts to patch things up with his employer, Mr. Edun’s access to the president was becoming more and more limited.
The minister recently took a plane to Lagos to appease the president, according to another insider. Despite Mr. Tinubu’s reluctance to meet him, the talks did not reduce the hostility between the two former allies.
Mr. Tinubu saw the writings that Mr. Edun had left on the wall as he was leaving.
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