Tinubu Seeks Senate Approval for Oyedele as Finance Minister, Abe as NUPRC Chair

President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to screen and confirm Taiwo Oyedele as Minister of State for Finance and former senator Magnus Abe as chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission. The requests were presented to lawmakers during Tuesday’s plenary at the National Assembly in Abuja.

The letters containing the nominations were read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. The president asked the upper chamber to review the appointments and grant approval as part of changes within the Federal Executive Council. If confirmed, Oyedele will replace Doris Uzoka-Anite in the finance ministry.

Oyedele, who is from Ikaram in Akoko area of Ondo State, previously served as chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms. In that role, he worked on policies aimed at reforming Nigeria’s tax system.

The 50-year-old economist and accountant spent over two decades working at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he joined in 2001 and later became Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.

Tinubu also nominated Magnus Abe, a former senator who represented Rivers South-East, to lead the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission after the resignation of Gbenga Komolafe.

The president further forwarded the names of Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Kaduna State, and Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director at the now-defunct Department of Petroleum Resources, as non-executive commissioners of the commission.

Following the announcement during plenary, the Senate President referred the nominations to the Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream for legislative review and further action before final confirmation by the chamber.