The Senate yesterday confirmed renowned tax expert, Taiwo Oyedele, as Minister of State for Finance.
The lawmakers charged him to deploy his extensive experience in fiscal policy reforms to strengthen government revenue generation and improve Nigeria’s economic management.
The confirmation followed his screening by the Red Chamber sitting as the Committee of the Whole with Senate President Godswill Akpabio as chairman.
Senators expressed confidence in his competence, pedigree and professional accomplishments.
During the screening session, which lasted over two hours, Oyedele assured senators that he would work with relevant stakeholders to pursue fiscal reforms aimed at expanding government revenue sources, improving budget implementation and aligning fiscal policies with Nigeria’s industrialisation and economic growth objectives.
He admitted that many Nigerians remain concerned about how the government utilises tax revenues.
Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, asked the nominee how the Federal Government could better harness revenue from the exploration and exploitation of solid minerals.
Jibrin said: “Apart from taxation, we have an issue. We have solid minerals scattered all over the country, but when we look at our revenue profile, we don’t see much coming from that sector.
“What will you do differently to enable us to harness revenue from the exploration and exploitation of these God-given endowments?”
Oyedele acknowledged that Nigeria had historically focused disproportionately on taxation and oil and gas revenues while neglecting other potential sources.
“For many years as a country, we have disproportionately focused on taxation and oil and gas, and that has taken our attention away from other areas where we can generate revenue,” he said.
He identified policy uncertainty as one of the major challenges affecting investment in the solid minerals sector.
“What we have identified is that the biggest impediment to the growth of the solid minerals sector is policy uncertainty,” he said.
According to him, creating a stable policy environment would attract investors and significantly expand revenue from the sector.
“The team and the Minister for Solid Minerals have been doing a lot, but we need to complement that with policy certainty. We may be coming to the National Assembly in this regard because once we fix the policy environment, other issues become easier to address,” he added.
Oyedele cited the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas project as an example of how legislative guarantees could unlock major investments.
“When it was time for Nigeria LNG to invest, there were concerns due to uncertainty. But once the National Assembly provided guarantees through legislation, we began to see results,” he said.
Other senators such as Adams Oshiomhole, Tahir Monguno, Yahaya Abdullahi, Jimoh Ibrahim, Jide Ipinsagbe, also asked questions.
The Senate President described Oyedele as a highly competent technocrat whose expertise would benefit the country.
Akpabio commended President Tinubu for nominating him and expressed confidence that Oyedele would translate his experience into practical policies capable of strengthening Nigeria’s economy.
Following the screening, Oyedele, 50, was confirmed by the Senate, clearing the way for his searing in as Minister of Finance (State).
