Tinubu Asks Edun to Resign, But Reluctant To Fire Him – Report

• The Chief Bisi Akande connection

• Finance minister busy trying to keep job

Whichever way you look at it, Mr Wale Edun, Nigeria’s finance minister, is effectively distracted from his job as a key cabinet member of the Tinubu administration.

Edun has been running from pillar to post in the last couple of weeks since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu mildly but firmly asked him to resign his position as finance minister and coordinating minister of the economy.

Not only is the news widespread that the President has asked the minister of state for finance, Mrs Doris Uzoka Anite, to assume significant responsibilities earlier delegated to Edun, but the President’s concern about Edun’s performance is at least more than a year old. This dates back to 2024, when the President contemplated naming Mr Taiwo Oyedele as minister of state for finance in order to fill some of the gaps he felt Edun was leaving in the job.

A last minute rally of political influencers around the President then turned the tide in favour of Doris Uzoka Anite, who became minister of state instead of Oyedele, the tax reform advocate. Incidentally, she herself had been ranked as a poor performer in her former role in the trade and industry portfolio and was marked to be fired before the tide changed in her favour.

But Uzoka Anite has now had to step up to handle some of Edun’s responsibilities, while the President is still reluctant to outrightly fire Edun, his long time ally of many years, including as a cabinet member in the Lagos State government when Tinubu was governor.

Close observers of the Tinubu administration told Empowered Newswire that Edun has been seeking out people close to President Tinubu, and those who have his ear, to reconsider the plan to relieve him of his job.

One of the people Edun hopes will help him prevail on President Tinubu is Chief Bisi Akande, who has been seen again publicly and prominently with the President in recent times.

Edun’s calculation, according to sources, is based on the fact that it was Chief Bisi Akande who prevailed on Tinubu to appoint Sunday Dare as special adviser last year, after Dare had been sidelined until the cabinet reshuffle of 2024.

Dare, who was perhaps the most visible and prominent aide of Tinubu since he left office as governor of Lagos State, had an agreement with Tinubu to stay with him until such a time he was ready to run for President. But Dare violated that gentleman’s agreement, to Tinubu’s displeasure.

Edun’s expectation now, Empowered Newswire can report authoritatively, is that since it was Chief Bisi Akande who persuaded Tinubu to bring Dare back, he might be able to do the same for Edun in his own, slightly different circumstances.

Aso Villa sources explained that President Tinubu, after several discussions with Akande over Dare, gave up and named Dare as special adviser. Akande reportedly argued with Tinubu, asking the President, “Ki ni Sunday se fun e gan na?”, meaning, what exactly did Sunday do wrong to you?

Akande went on to argue that Sunday had been with Tinubu longer than the period he was not with him, and questioned how the President could trust people with fewer years of relationship over Sunday, whose strengths and weaknesses he already knew.

Whether this Chief Bisi Akande gamble will work for Edun is unclear, but time will tell.

Meanwhile, the President’s plan to offer Edun the option of voluntary resignation is meant to help the finance minister safeguard his public reputation.

The plan comes amid mounting tensions within the ministry, driven by protracted delays in payments to federal contractors, faltering budget execution, and Edun’s involvement in commercial arrangements not favoured by the President, exposing profound fissures within the nation’s economic leadership.

Sources with intimate knowledge of cabinet deliberations indicate that Edun has already been divested of his most consequential responsibilities.

Mrs Doris Nkiruka Uzoka Anite, the minister of state for finance, has already assumed control of major ministerial duties such as budget execution, contractor payments and revenue mobilisation, effectively wielding the levers of fiscal authority previously under Edun’s command.

“This is an unequivocal signal that the President intends to reassert command over economic management while avoiding a public confrontation,” a senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Edun’s tenure has been overshadowed by persistent unrest among contractors. Verified obligations under the 2024 and 2025 budgets remained unsettled, compelling numerous indigenous firms into financial distress.

Lawmakers and civic organisations have publicly criticised the ministry, framing the delays as a breach of fiduciary duty and warning of potential political repercussions should remedial action not be forthcoming.

A civil society advocate observed, “The backlog of unpaid contracts is staggering. Enterprises are suffering whilst public funds remain in limbo. Accountability is imperative.”

Sources further revealed that the contractors have since received the outstanding payments after the matter was escalated to President Tinubu, a situation the presidency reportedly found deeply embarrassing.

The resolution, however, came only after the delay had attracted significant public scrutiny, intensifying pressure on Edun and contributing to the decision to curtail his authority.

Further sources indicate that tension between Edun and the presidency stemmed from his participation in commercial deals that did not receive presidential approval.

Coupled with escalating public debt and systemic cash flow constraints, this discord precipitated a decision to curtail his authority.

Although Edun pursued reforms designed to strengthen fiscal discipline, streamline the Treasury Single Account and advance structural initiatives, progress was impeded by administrative bottlenecks and operational delays.

With Uzoka Anite now overseeing fiscal operations, the presidency seeks to stabilise revenue streams, expedite contractor payments and reassert control over cash management, particularly in collaboration with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company and other key revenue generating agencies.

Observers suggest that the reassignment of responsibilities signals not merely Edun’s diminishing influence, but a broader recalibration of Tinubu’s economic team at a pivotal juncture for national financial stability.

Efforts to obtain comments from both Edun and the presidency were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
(Empowered Newswire)