The Senate confirmed Professor Taiwo Oyedele’s appointment as Minister of State for Finance on Wednesday, following nearly three hours of economic and financial questions from senators across party lines.
During the confirmation hearing, Oyedele detailed a number of measures for stabilizing government revenues, enhancing contractor payments, and expanding Nigeria’s revenue base.
Regarding the country’s dependency on crude oil, Oyedele said that advance sales may protect the economy from price volatility while providing citizens with predictable fuel pricing.
“One strategy used in several countries is selling crude forward. Nigeria can lock in a price for a portion of our crude for a period of time. That would guarantee budget financing and also give Nigerians stability so prices are not fluctuating the way we have seen in recent days,” he said.
Addressing the persistent issue of delayed contractor payments, Oyedele advocated awarding contracts based on available funds to avoid a “trust deficit premium,” in which a contract initially costing N1 billion might increase to N2 billion due to delayed government payments.
He also highlighted Nigeria’s untapped revenue possibilities beyond oil and taxation.
“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,” Oyedele said.
Highlighting the solid minerals sector, he added: “What we have identified as the biggest impediment to the growth of the solid minerals sector is policy uncertainty. The team and the minister of solid minerals have been doing a lot, but we need to complement that with a policy-certainty environment. We may be coming to the National Assembly in this regard.”
Oyedele emphasized the importance of realistic budgeting and full execution of approved projects.
“When we have budgets, we need to ensure that there is funding behind them and that there are releases so that we can execute them—100 percent if possible—particularly for capital expenditure,” he said.
“Looking at Nigeria’s budgets over the past five years, many appeared too ambitious compared to the revenue. We were focusing on expenditure without paying enough attention to the revenue side,” he added.
He further highlighted that nearly half of Nigeria’s budgets are currently deficit-financed.
“Today, if you combine the federal and state governments, nearly half of our budgets are deficit-financed. We need to pay more attention to realistic revenue to drive our projects,” Oyedele said.
Outlining his immediate priorities if confirmed, he said: “If I am confirmed by this distinguished Senate, one of the first things I will do is create a clear status quo analysis. If we owe contractors, we should know it.
He also highlighted that nearly half of Nigeria’s budgets are currently deficit-financed.
“Today, if you combine the federal and state governments, nearly half of our budgets are deficit-financed. We need to pay more attention to realistic revenue to drive our projects,” Oyedele said.
Speaking on his immediate priorities if confirmed, he said: “If I am confirmed by this distinguished Senate, one of the first things I will do is create a clear status quo analysis. If we owe contractors, we should know it.
“We should say: as of today, this is how much we owe contractors, this is how much we have, this is the gap, and this is how we plan to raise the money,” he said.
Speaking on government spending and inflation, Oyedele noted, “If the government gets more revenue because subsidies have been removed, it is actually a transfer from the people to the government.
“The only way we can make that sacrifice worthwhile is to spend that money in areas of priority for the people.”
The Senate president also expressed confidence that targeted investments in infrastructure linking farms to markets could generate rapid economic benefits.
“Those priorities can be as basic as roads from the farm to the warehouse, to the factory, and to the markets. When that happens, people see the impact almost immediately,” he said.
Following Oyedele’s confirmation, Akpabio commended President Bola Tinubu for appointing “a square peg for a round hole,” praising Oyedele’s expertise and suitability for the role.
