“The president asked Edun to leave honourably in October last year but he lobbied to keep his position,” what some Tinubu’s men, Edun’s staff said about the sack of Finance Minister
President Bola Tinubu publicly wished several Nigerians a happy birthday this week — including Stella Okotete, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Shola Oshunkeye, and Orji Uzor Kalu. Conspicuously missing from his list was Wale Edun, his minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy who clocked the landmark 70 on April 20.
A day later, he fired Edun from his cabinet.
But many Aso Rock insiders were not surprised by the turn of events — it was always coming.
“The president asked Edun to leave honourably in October last year but he lobbied to keep his position,” an insider told TheCable. “Although he stayed back, the president told his aides: ‘As far as I am concerned, I have done send-off for Wale already.’ But for some reason, Edun managed to hang on.”
Edun was effectively relegated thereafter, with Doris Uzoka-Anite, the junior minister, taking over three key functions from him: revenue generation, revenue distribution and domestic debt management.
That meant Edun could not longer oversee the monthly meeting of the federation account allocation committee (FAAC), although the January meeting chaired by Uzoka-Anite ended in chaos and a communique could not be issued for the first time.
Sensing that Uzoka-Anite may not be well suited for the job, the president appointed Taiwo Oyedele, a tax expert, as the new junior minister and redeployed her as minister of state, budget and economic planning.
Tinubu Reshuffles Education Sector, Appoints NECO, NBTE Chairmen
‘Dismal Display,’ How Brighton Thrashed Chelsea 3-0 At Amex Stadium
Meet Profs. Adeola Adelabu, Babatunde Salako;’ What To Know About NECO, NBTE New Chairs
‘Major ShakeUp,’ Wale Edun, Dangiwa Sacked As Tinubu Reshuffles Cabinet
How Mother Slumped, Died While Waiting For Daughter Writing UTME in Ondo
2026 Eid-Al-Adha Countdown Begins; Saudi Makes Key Announcements: See Dates
That, nevertheless, did not save Edun from the sack.
He was to be fired two weeks ago, with a number of options considered as his replacement, including Zacchaeus Adedeji, executive chairman of the National Revenue Service (NRS), and Joseph Tegbe, chairman of the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee (NTPIC).
Some of Tinubu’s aides mounted pressure on the president but the plot failed for the second time.
Edun had stopped enjoying Tinubu’s confidence for a while, particularly after the payment of consultancy fees running into hundreds of billions of naira to a company whose ultimate beneficiary is a south-east governor who is always seen around the president.
THE CHAGOURY DISCONTENT
However, insiders told TheCable that the final straw was Edun’s failure to release some of the funds budgeted for the Lagos-Calabar coastal road and the Sokoto-Badagry super highway — two monumental projects being handled by Hitech Construction (Nig) Ltd.
Hitech is owned by the family of Gilbert Chagoury, who was explicitly listed as the president’s “confidante” when he attended the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, UAE, in December 2023, as a member of Nigeria’s delegation.
Insiders told TheCable that Edun often argued that there were no enough funds to service capital projects because of federal government’s expenditure priorities, namely debt service, salaries, and pensions. By the time these obligations are met, he argued, there was hardly anything left to share.
Before the removal of subsidy, the federal government had to borrow, through money printing by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to settle part of the wage bills.
Debt service gulped up to 95 percent of federal government revenue at a point in 2021.
Edun’s prioritisation of debt service, wage bills and overheads led to complaints by federal ministries, agencies and departments (MDAs) that they were not getting releases for capital projects.
Contractors are also being owed, leading to protests in Abuja and threats by the national assembly to sanction the finance ministry.
The Cable
