President Bola Tinubu has forwarded the nomination of Dr. Taiwo Oyedele to the Senate for confirmation as Minister of State for Finance, replacing Dr. Doris Anite-Uzoka, who has been redeployed to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning.

Oyedele, 50, hails from Ikaram, Akoko in Ondo State, and until his nomination, served as Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, which led a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s tax system.

The tax reform committee, inaugurated in August 2023, delivered four executive bills that consolidated over 60 taxes into fewer than 10 statutes. Key reforms include:

Zero income tax for Nigerians earning N800,000 or less annually.

Exemption from company income tax, capital gains tax, and development levy for small businesses with turnover below N50 million.

50% tax deduction for companies hiring new workers for three years.

50% deduction for wage increases to lowest-paid employees.

Five-year corporate tax holiday for agricultural enterprises.

Oyedele is an economist, accountant, and public policy expert, with educational credentials from Yaba College of Technology, Oxford Brookes University, and executive programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, Harvard Kennedy School, and the Gordon Institute of Business Science.

He spent 22 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, rising to Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader, and is currently a professor at Babcock University and a visiting scholar at Lagos Business School.

As Minister of State for Finance, Oyedele is expected to drive implementation of tax reforms and support government efforts to boost revenue generation and deepen economic reforms.

The Senate is expected to screen and confirm his nomination in the coming weeks, after which he will be sworn in.

The Finance Ministry, led by Wale Edun, oversees fiscal policy, revenue mobilisation, debt management, and economic planning.