Ololade Adeyanju/
Fresh details have emerged on the removal of former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, with reports indicating that a heated confrontation with President Bola Tinubu months earlier played a pivotal role in his eventual exit.
According to Premium Times, Edun was involved in a tense exchange with Bola Tinubu during a Federal Executive Council meeting on December 10, 2025, where he was said to have raised his voice at the President over issues relating to budget performance and capital releases.
Sources cited in the report said the situation became so charged that the President’s Aide-de-Camp had to intervene, moving towards Edun to caution him against speaking to the President in that manner.
The incident is understood to have deepened an already strained relationship between the two men, amid growing dissatisfaction within the administration over delays in capital budget implementation and funding shortfalls affecting ministries, departments and agencies.
Edun, who was appointed in August 2023, had come under increasing scrutiny from lawmakers and cabinet colleagues over what critics described as slow budget execution and inadequate release of funds for capital projects.
In February 2026, members of the National Assembly publicly criticised the finance ministry, alleging “zero implementation” of key components of the 2025 capital budget, despite prior approvals.
The development triggered complaints from government agencies and contractors over unpaid obligations.
Although Edun defended his record, insisting the government had moved away from what he described as the unsustainable practice of financing expenditure through monetary expansion, insiders said the President remained unconvinced by his explanations.
TheCable also reported that tensions between Edun and the Presidency had been building for months.
According to sources, President Tinubu had as far back as October 2025 asked the minister to consider stepping down, a move Edun reportedly resisted after lobbying to retain his position.
An insider was quoted as saying the President had privately indicated that he had “already done send-off” for Edun, signalling that his continued stay in office was only temporary.
Further signs of a looming exit emerged when some of Edun’s responsibilities were reassigned to the Minister of State for Finance, and later when Taiwo Oyedele was appointed into the ministry, a development widely interpreted within government circles as positioning a successor.
The Presidency eventually announced Edun’s removal on Tuesday in what was described as a minor cabinet reshuffle.
The decision also affected the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, while Oyedele was immediately elevated to take over the finance portfolio.
Observers say Edun’s exit marks the end of a long-standing professional relationship with the President, dating back to their time in Lagos, and underscores the increasing pressure within the administration to address economic management concerns.
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