‘He doesn’t have the right education,’ ADC questions Taiwo Oyedele’s ability to manage Nigeria’s economy

The spokesperson for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has questioned whether Taiwo Oyedele, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, has the appropriate educational background to manage Nigeria’s economy.

Abdullahi made the remarks on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, while discussing the Federal Government’s 30-day petrol price reduction initiative.

He argued that subsidy policies are ideological and that economic decisions should be informed by the appropriate expertise.

“I’m not saying he’s incompetent, but I think he doesn’t have the right education,” he said.

“Because, look, the issue of subsidy is ideological. And we have to understand where you are coming from. I mean, I’m talking about an economy, this Nigerian economy.

Abdullahi stressed that his criticism was not intended as a personal attack on Oyedele, whom he said he respected and considered intelligent.

“No, I’m not going personal. Like I said, I have utmost respect for him. And I think he’s quite a smart guy. I’m not taking that away from him,” he said.

“But what I’m saying is that the way an accountant reviews an economy is not the same way an economist reviews it. And the same way a classical economist would look at it is not the way a development economist would look at it.

“We need people who are trained to do this job to do it.”

Oyedele’s educational and professional background

Oyedele holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Accountancy and Finance from Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), as well as a bachelor’s degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom.

He has also completed executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, Gordon Institute of Business Science and Harvard Kennedy School.

Before his appointment as Minister of State for Finance, Oyedele spent 22 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), rising to become the firm’s first fiscal policy partner and Africa tax leader.

FG announces 30-day petrol price reduction

Last Thursday, Oyedele announced that the Federal Government would introduce a 30-day petrol price discount at filling stations operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

He said transport operators would receive priority under the arrangement, insisting that the measure did not constitute a subsidy but involved the government selling petrol at cost.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar subsequently accused President Bola Tinubu of adopting his proposal on petrol subsidies while restricting the intervention to a 30-day discount.

Atiku, the ADC’s presidential candidate, said Tinubu had previously described him as ignorant of economic policy when he proposed targeted support to reduce fuel costs.

He added that the Tinubu administration had dismissed his proposal as unworkable.