In a significant restructuring of Nigeria’s fiscal leadership, President Bola Tinubu has ordered a major redistribution of responsibilities within the Federal Ministry of Finance.
This directive, issued via a memo on December 10, 2025, involves stripping the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, of critical revenue-generation and cash management functions.
These powers have been transferred to the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, marking a dramatic shift in how the nation’s finances are controlled.
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The shake-up comes as the federal government faces a deepening financial strain, which senior officials have privately characterized as a “cash management crisis mode.”
Despite public claims from various agencies that revenue targets were being met, the presidency is reportedly concerned about a sharp shortfall that has led to delayed payments across the government.
This reorganisation is seen as a direct effort to curtail Edun’s authority over debts and payments during this volatile period.
In her expanded role, Dr. Uzoka-Anite has been tasked with identifying urgent methods to bolster federal income.
She has already initiated a comprehensive review of government cash balances and payment obligations, holding high-stakes meetings with the Debt Management Office (DMO) and the Nigeria Customs Service.
Furthermore, she has entered discussions with the NNPC to demand better revenue delivery, supported by a presidential order for the Attorney-General to increase oversight of the state-owned oil firm.
However, the transition has not been without friction.
The sudden shift in authority has caused confusion among civil servants and private-sector partners who were accustomed to dealing with Edun for payment approvals.
Critics and economists have expressed concern that this split in authority could weaken fiscal discipline.
One economist noted:“Not only should the budget ministry be merged back with finance, Nigeria needs to move towards zero-based budgeting. Diffusing authority and line of sight over fiscal data across institutions makes poor execution and bad behaviour more likely. The current crisis reflects that disconnect.”
Structural issues continue to plague the ministry, including approximately ₦3.6 trillion in outstanding import duty waivers that have yet to be reconciled.
Additionally, the government is facing immense pressure from the Service-Wide Vote, with discretionary funding requests expected to reach ₦15 trillion by the end of 2025. This has forced the ministry to seek presidential guidance on which projects to prioritize and which to reject.
Dr. Uzoka-Anite, who brings a background as a Chartered Financial Analyst and former Group Treasurer at Zenith Bank, is now under pressure to stabilize the government’s cash position within a 90-day window.
While the move aims to bring private-sector efficiency to the crisis, the divided leadership at the top of the Finance Ministry remains a point of intense debate among stakeholders.
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