Nigeria’s fiscal governance is sending mixed and increasingly confusing signals. Taken together, recent developments raise a fundamental question for investors, policymakers, and development partners: who is actually in charge of Nigeria’s fiscal policy today?
On paper, Nigeria has a Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun. In practice, however, many of the substantive levers of fiscal authority now appear to be exercised by the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite.
Quiet Memos, Real Power
The starting point is a set of internal presidential memos—never publicly announced—that reassigned several core responsibilities from Edun to Uzoka-Anite. These include revenue mobilisation, intergovernmental revenue sharing, debt coordination, development finance, and key interfaces with revenue agencies. Such a transfer of powers from a substantive minister to a minister of state is highly unusual in Nigeria’s administrative practice and lacks a clear technocratic or policy justification.
Since those memos surfaced, neither the Presidency nor the Ministry of Finance has issued a formal clarification on the new chain of command.
Edun Signals Authority—Politically
Against this backdrop, Edun issued a public statement framed around security, markets, and investor confidence. Substantively, it introduced little new economic information. Politically, however, it was significant.
By speaking unambiguously as Nigeria’s finance minister—restating macroeconomic performance, aligning himself with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, and outlining forward objectives—Edun appeared to be sending a clear signal: he remains in charge and does not regard himself as sidelined.
Uzoka-Anite Acts as De Facto Minister
Almost simultaneously, Uzoka-Anite issued a detailed statement unveiling the Ministry of Finance’s 2026 growth agenda, including plans for a central investor desk, capital-market deepening, consumer credit expansion, development-finance coordination, and a federal revenue optimisation platform.
The scope and tone were striking. The statement read not as delegated communication, but as the work of a minister exercising full operational control over fiscal strategy and investor engagement.
In effect, while Edun asserted authority politically, Uzoka-Anite demonstrated authority administratively.
Presidential Signals Add to the Ambiguity
Further complicating the picture, Edun was recently appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) by King Charles III, a rare personal honour recognising his long-standing work in youth development through the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. President Tinubu publicly congratulated the minister, describing the recognition as well-deserved and aligned with his administration’s emphasis on youth empowerment and national renewal. Such a message is not typically extended to an appointee who is out of favour or expected to exit the cabinet imminently.
Yet this symbolic endorsement has not been matched by any public reversal, amendment, or clarification of the memos that transferred substantive powers away from him.
The result is an unusual duality: one finance minister signalling control, another exercising it.
Why This Matters
Fiscal policy coherence depends on clarity of authority—particularly as Nigeria approaches a politically sensitive pre-election period ahead of 2027, when fiscal discipline traditionally comes under pressure.
For investors, rating agencies, and development partners, the current arrangement raises legitimate questions about accountability, execution risk, and policy continuity. Informal power-sharing at the apex of the finance ministry may be politically expedient, but it introduces uncertainty into a system that relies heavily on credibility.
Questions Now Facing President Tinubu
The unresolved ambiguity ultimately places the burden of clarity on President Bola Tinubu himself.
First, has the presidential memo that reassigned core fiscal powers from the Minister of Finance to the Minister of State been formally reversed, amended, or allowed to stand? Neither the Presidency nor the Ministry of Finance has offered public clarification, and in governance, silence does not erase documented decisions.
Second, Nigeria’s business community, citizens, development partners, and foreign investors cannot simply unsee those memos. Once authority has been visibly reassigned—especially in such an unprecedented manner—the assumption of continuity no longer holds without explicit confirmation.
Finally, when will the president conclusively determine—and publicly communicate—who exercises ultimate authority over Nigeria’s fiscal policy? For now, that clarity appears to reside only within the presidency itself. To the outside world, the identity of Nigeria’s real minister of finance remains uncertain.