₦airaland Forum

BREAKING! Tinubu Removes Finance Minister, Appoints Replacement After Hon Alex Mascot Exposed 'Missing' N1.15tr

President Bola Tinubu has removed Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite as Minister of State for Finance and appointed Mr. Taiwo Oyedele as her replacement, in a dramatic cabinet reshuffle that political observers are linking to last week's explosive budget defence hearing.

The development comes exactly seven days after Hon. Alex Mascot Ikwechegh, member representing Aba North/Aba South Federal Constituency, confronted the Minister of Finance over ₦1.15 trillion in approved capital funds that remain undisbursed—with capital projects across Nigeria sitting at zero percent execution.

It was Wednesday, February 25th, when Hon. Ikwechegh—a member of the House Committee on Aids and Loans—took the floor at the Appropriation Committee's budget defence session and began firing questions that would ultimately reverberate all the way to Aso Rock.

Armed with documents from his committee assignment, he laid out a disturbing pattern:

$1.2 billion Digital infrastructure

$500 million Economic stimulus

$500 million MSME support (Dec 2025)

$500 million (AfDB) Economic governance/Energy transition Approved Nov 2025

$21M + ¥15B + €4B Recent executive loan request

₦1.15 trillion 30% of 2025 capital budget Approved but Not Disbursed

Despite this avalanche of borrowed money and record-breaking revenues from agencies like FIRS and Customs, Hon. Ikwechegh noted that capital projects remained at zero disbursement.

"With all these funds put together... I want you to enlighten us on why the 2024 budget is yet to be fully implemented, and why the 2025 budget has only been funded 34%—most of which is recurrent expenditure."

Then came the question that silenced the room:

"I want you to enlighten us on why our capital projects still remain at zero. Talking about our country. This is our country. Are you not in Nigeria? Why the capital of the Nigerian government remains at zero in 2026?"

When pressed, Minister of Finance Wale Edun shifted responsibility to his Minister of State, Doris Uzoka-Anite, claiming she handled disbursements.

The committee adjourned to Thursday, February 26th, summoning Uzoka-Anite to provide answers.

She appeared. She confirmed that ₦1.15 trillion was indeed approved. But she claimed "pre-disbursement conditions" had not been met by some ministries.

Hon. Ikwechegh was ready. He rose and asked:

"Mr. Chairman, can the minister tell this committee which specific ministry met all conditions and still did not receive funding? If none existed, why was ₦1.15 trillion approved when the government knew conditions weren't met?"

The minister could not name a single ministry.

The room understood the implication: either the money was approved without proper verification, or it was being withheld without justification.

Speaking after the hearing, Hon. Ikwechegh framed the issue in stark legal terms:

"If this infraction is identified, it means there has been misappropriation of funds—which is a crime."

At 3:30 PM on Tuesday, March 3rd—exactly one week after Hon. Ikwechegh's initial interrogation—the presidency announced a cabinet reshuffle.

According to a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Uzoka-Anite has been moved to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning as Minister of State.

It is her third portfolio in two years, having previously served as Minister of Trade and Investment before her appointment to Finance.

Replacing her is Taiwo Oyedele, the 50-year-old economist and tax expert who chaired the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms. Oyedele, a 22-year veteran of PwC who rose to become Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader, now awaits Senate confirmation.

The official statement made no mention of the budget defence hearing or Hon. Ikwechegh's interrogation.

But the timeline has left political observers drawing their own conclusions.

For ordinary Nigerians, this sequence of events demonstrates something rare: accountability in action.

A lawmaker asked questions. A minister could not answer. One week later, that minister was removed from her portfolio.

Hon. Ikwechegh's constituents in Aba North and Aba South—a commercial hub—now see their representative making waves at the highest level.

When he asked, "Why the capital of the Nigerian government remains at zero in 2026?" —he was asking for the roads, hospitals, and schools that never got built despite approved funds.

Now, because of his questions, the nation is watching. And the government has responded.

Despite the cabinet reshuffle, the core question Hon. Ikwechegh raised remains unanswered:

Where is the ₦1.15 trillion?

If funds were approved by the National Assembly, borrowed from international lenders, and generated by revenue agencies—yet never reached the capital projects they were intended for—the legal implications are unavoidable.

As Hon. Ikwechegh himself stated:

"If this infraction is identified, it means there has been misappropriation of funds—which is a crime."

The removal of a minister does not erase that question. It merely raises another:

Will there be further accountability?

Source : https://igberetvnews.com/1492745/tinubu-removes-finance-minister-appoints-replacement-hon-alex-mascot-exposed-missing-n1-15tr/

Ignore stop this nonsense headlines. You guys chestbeat too much

The bottom up cash management system needs to be abandoned immediately. It breeds too much corruption and inefficiency. Give capital allocation to all MDAs at the same time and let them do the payments of their budgetary allocation. That is the only way to solve this problem.

Paper Tiger EFCC where art thou? She should be arrested ASAP.

The Minister is simply a fall guy and is being punished for a systemic problem.

The new Minister, who is a good audit professional, should conduct a complete audit of approved monies that were never disbursed, if he wants to be true to his profession.

Then make corrections that should be enduring, to "fix a broken system"

He supposed to remove both Wale Edun and her, they're incompetent, I previously admired Dr. Wale Edun but this recent matter makes me dislike that man, anyway;

God bless Federal Republic of Nigeria 🇳🇬

Ours neighbours brother
Done cash out
Congratulations to him!
And U expecting Peter Obi to become president?? C weytinz his brother do
Running inside gene

Isn't Wale Edun supposed to be removed as well? He is incharge of the Ministry of Finance, he came for that budget defence so he should have been axed too because he has shown high level of incompetence.

Who approved the disbursement is it not the Hon Minister Wale Edun via the President?
I think both of them should go

I was expecting her to deny she was in charge of disbursement but she never did. Meaning that she failed in her responsibility. We have oftentimes complain that minister of state are like a spare tyre , however, under the ministry of finance, the junior minister holds a key portfolio of cash disbursement to MDAs which is a big credit to the Minister of finance. Unfortunately she failed, majority of MDAs complained of little to zero disbursement which explains why the fiscal policies are lagging behind.

The President is magnanimous by redeploying her to budget and planning which is also another crucial ministry in the economy. Otherwise she should have been fired outrightly.

This shows your brain ineeds help. Wale Edun was asked why, he confirmed the minister of state is responsible for disbursement. The minister of state took responsibility n accepted her inadequacies yet you want Wale Edun to be punished even with all the great work he is doing as confirmed by the World Bank ? Why is your life filled with agonising hate ? Why not free your soul from hate for God sake ?!

UzorIyke:
He supposed to remove both Wale Edun and her, they're incompetent, I previously admired Dr. Wale Edun but this recent matter makes me dislike that man, anyway;

God bless Federal Republic of Nigeria 🇳🇬

saintopus:
Who approved the disbursement is it not the Hon Minister Wale Edun via the President?
I think both of them should go

Yeah, if Mr Edun approved the funds, why did she not disburse them?

Kaa4:
The Minister is simply a fall guy and is being punished for a systemic problem.

The new Minister, who is a good audit professional, should conduct a complete audit of approved monies that were never disbursed, if he wants to be true to his profession.

Then make corrections that should be enduring, to "fix a broken system"

Yeah, the minister was a fall guy, more reason they didn't sack her, else she will blow everything out.

Truth remains, she is the fall guy... there is no money because it was rerouted to the never ending coastal road, mark my words, till 2031, that road will never be completed.
The monies borrowed all through the Y2025 was all channeled to the coastal road, which never had an budget planned for it in the same year.

muyico:
Ours neighbours brother
Done cash out
Congratulations to him!
And U expecting Peter Obi to become president?? C weytinz his brother do
Running inside gene

I hope you’re not expecting to get paid at the end of the month with this your write up, it’s not expressing your h8te for Igbos enough… learn from Yarimo…. You might lose your 30k for this month if you don’t change how you write

seunmsg:
The bottom up cash management system needs to be abandoned immediately. It breeds too much corruption and inefficiency. Give capital allocation to all MDAs at the same time and let them do movement their budget. That is the only way to solve this problem.

Where are the funds budgeted and appropriated for by the national assembly? It's not enough to celebrate record-breaking revenues when the 2024 and 2025 budgets remain unfunded. Tinubu has made Wale Edun the fall-guy but we all know Edun couldn't have done anything without his express approval and awareness. Where is the money?

Damn

seunmsg:
The bottom up cash management system needs to be abandoned immediately. It breeds too much corruption and inefficiency. Give capital allocation to all MDAs at the same time and let them do movement their budget. That is the only way to solve this problem.

Tell your Tinubu to explain to Nigerians: where exactly is the money?

Sacrificing the Minister of Finance as the fall guy is not a solution. Nigerians deserve to know what happened to every kobo.

Eye service. She's just a scapegoat.

UzorIyke:
He supposed to remove both Wale Edun and her, they're incompetent, I previously admired Dr. Wale Edun but this recent matter makes me dislike that man, anyway;

God bless Federal Republic of Nigeria 🇳🇬

But Tinubu being a tribalistic hypocrite won't allow it. An example of his tribalism is below

Palace Coup... Interesting Script

We are only Yorubanising the economy sector. This is not how to lead a nation.

Kaa4:
The new Minister, who is a good audit professional

^^^
Highly debatable.

We are waiting for him to make another inappropriate reference to 'runs girls' and their contribution to national income.

It won't be long.

Kaa4:
The Minister is simply a fall guy and is being punished for a systemic problem.

The new Minister, who is a good audit professional, should conduct a complete audit of approved monies that were never disbursed, if he wants to be true to his profession.

Then make corrections that should be enduring, to "fix a broken system"

Tax, not Audit. The news is confirmed already. And private is not like public unfortunately. The bureaucracy of government makes even the brightest person look like a devil because corruption is beneficial to the status quo. That's why, unless there's executive backing, it will be a tough job to clean the system. Did you read what led to Egbetokun's removal? El Rufai, NOI, Akunyili to name a few have been down this road.

Man102:
A lawmaker asked questions. A minister could not answer. One week later, that minister was removed from her portfolio.

President Bola Tinubu has removed Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite as Minister of State for Finance and appointed Mr. Taiwo Oyedele as her replacement, in a dramatic cabinet reshuffle that political observers are linking to last week's explosive budget defence hearing.

For ordinary Nigerians, this sequence of events demonstrates something rare: accountability in action.

Source : https://igberetvnews.com/1492745/tinubu-removes-finance-minister-appoints-replacement-hon-alex-mascot-exposed-missing-n1-15tr/

^^^


Accountability indeed.

Nigerians will believe this 'accountability' when the commander (who ordered soldiers guarding the girls school in Kebbi to stand down) is identified and named. Two of the school's staff members lost their lives as a result of that decision to withdraw security from that school. The state governor told Nigerians on national tv exactly how things went down.

Up till now, BAT hasn't said a word. Remember he's the commander in chief.

Diezani part 2 ?

Anyway it's hard to believe the president was unaware that over a trillion has been diverted to fund some other interests

In simple terms, all the billions of dollars the president has been borrowing have been embezzled. This is the money you and your children will pay for. This is enough for the president to be impeached.

shortgun:
Why wasn’t the Finance Minister the one who was sacked?

sack indeed, bad belle will not allow u reason logically, she was redeployed, not sacked.

Dogalmighty17:
In simple terms, all the billions of dollars the president has been borrowing have been embezzled. This is the money you and your children will pay for. This is enough for the president to be impeached.

Impeach indeed, continue living in a delusional state of self denial.

People that u were wailing over that did not pass your e transmission should impeach the president?

Very unserious minded fellow.