…We are ready for tax reform implementation – Oyedele
President Bola Tinubu on Monday, commended Taiwo Oyedele for accepting to serve the country at a critical period, with a charge to do more with implementation of the ongoing fiscal policy reforms.
The President, speaking at the swearing in ceremony of Oyedele as new Minister of State, Finance, stated that ” You have rewritten the entire tax policy of this country that was obsolete, archaic, and fundamentally against every progressive thinker. You are just a very dedicated and highly determined individual”.
The President said it didn’t take much for him to decide where Oyedele will fit and ” where you need to be to further help the country. 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. It is always very difficult, but you fit the bill.”
The President who is expected to depart to the United Kingdom on Tuesday, on the invitation of the UK government, also commended Oyedele’s wife for “being able to stand our challenge of time management and absence, for long hours”
President Tinubu described the tasks ahead as more challenging with additional responsibility and appealed to the Minister’s wife for more support.
” I hope you will continue to encourage him and support him adequately. Thank you very, very much.”
Speaking after the swearing in, Oyedele acknowledged that the rewards for hard work is more work ” I think they say the reward for doing a good job is more work, and I think it’s always a privilege to have the opportunity to serve your country, especially at the highest level. But it’s even more fascinating at this critical juncture for our country. So I do not take the trust for granted. So I’m grateful to Mr. President.
He also expressed his appreciation to the stakeholders who had worked with him, ” I am very grateful to the generality of the Nigerian people, particularly stakeholders that have been very supportive of the work we’ve done to date. But you know, they say reforms are only as good as the paper on which they are written. What is really important is the diligent execution, and this is part of it: to move from policy formulation to execution. So we’re very excited and looking forward to the challenges ahead.”
Interviewer: “Mr. President spoke glowingly of you, talking about your pedigree and what you have done. Now, with this that he knows about you, what do you want to do to ensure that you don’t disappoint him and Nigeria?”
Oyedele also promised Nigerians that he will give his very best at every point in time.
” And I’m confident in the Ministry of Finance, with the complement of the team and the leadership working together, I don’t think there’s anything that will be beyond us to be able to surmount. There are challenges, no doubt, but so are the opportunities that abound for our country.”
Speaking on his priorities, he assured that he prioritise the program of the government, ” this will be our priorities for our country, because the Ministry of Finance will not operate in isolation. And those issues are mostly around revenue mobilization, so you can have enough revenue to meet the increasing demand of the public on the treasury, both at the federal level as well as sub-national.
” There are also the issue around spending efficiency and priority, because for every one Naira that we earn, how can we optimize the value we get from it to meet the needs of our people? And of course, you know, issues around debt management and fiscal sustainability is also important.
“Now, how all of this connect effectively and link up to other policies of government from, you know, monetary policy to trade and other policies as well across sub-national, and also within the context of the international community because we don’t live in isolation and we know what’s happening with geopolitics and the crisis, is actually about how do you think proactively and say, ‘how do we position Nigeria to best manage challenges and headwinds while optimizing the values and the opportunities that are there both within Nigeria and globally for our country?'”
Oyedele, had before his current appointment, served as Chairman Presidential Committee on Tax Reforms
He will be replacing Doris Uzoka-Anite, who was redeployed to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, marking her third portfolio in the current administration.
It would be recalled that President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, March 3, transmitted Oyedele’s name to the Senate in a letter to the Senate President, requesting his confirmation.
Oyedele’s appointment comes months after the National Assembly passed a set of tax reform laws spearheaded by Oyedele as Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms.
A native of Ikaram in Akoko area of Ondo State, the 50-year-old economist and public policy expert brings decades of experience in finance, taxation, and economic policy to his new role.
Oyedele began his academic journey at Yaba College of Technology, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Accountancy and Finance.
He later earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom.
He has also attended several executive education programmes at leading global institutions, including the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and the Harvard Kennedy School.
Before entering public service, Oyedele spent 22 years with global professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he joined in 2001 and rose to become Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.
Beyond his professional career, he is also involved in academia. Oyedele serves as a professor at Babcock University in Ogun State and is a visiting scholar at the Lagos Business School.
His appointment is expected to reinforce the administration’s efforts to deepen fiscal reforms and strengthen Nigeria’s economic governance framework.
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