Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has removed Wale Edun as Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Ahmed Musa Dangiwa as Minister of Housing and Urban Development in a cabinet shuffle announced on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.
“Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has approved a minor cabinet shuffle that removed two ministers and promoted a junior official to the key post of finance minister, his office said in a statement on Tuesday,” Reuters reported.
Taiwo Oyedele, previously minister of state for finance, replaced Wale Edun as minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy. Housing and urban development minister Ahmed Musa Dangiwa also exited the cabinet, with Muttaqha Rabe Darma named ministerial nominee for the role, the statement said.
Dangiwa confirmed his exit and thanked the President for the opportunity to serve. “I am grateful to my colleagues in the Federal Executive Council, stakeholders across the housing value chain, and the dedicated staff of the Ministry and its agencies for their commitment and hard work,” Dangiwa said. “Together, we laid strong foundations for a more structured and sustainable housing delivery system in Nigeria.” He added that he acknowledged the directive to hand over in line with the President’s decision and assured a smooth, orderly transition.
The removal of Edun follows months of pressure and a December 2024 presidential directive that stripped key revenue-generation and cash management functions from the finance minister and transferred them to Doris Uzoka-Anite, the Minister of State for Finance. “The presidential directive, conveyed in a memo from the presidency dated Wednesday, December 10, marks one of the most significant internal reorganisations of Nigeria’s fiscal architecture in years,” Businessday reported. “Its immediate effect is to curtail Edun’s authority over revenues, debts and payments at a time when the federal government is grappling with a deepening cash squeeze.”
Calls for Edun’s sack had intensified over unpaid local contractors who besieged the Ministry of Finance demanding payment for 2024 capital projects. Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, who stormed the Ministry in solidarity with the aggrieved contractors, asked President Tinubu to sack Edun and Federal Inland Revenue Services Chairman Zack Adedeji. “These jobs have been executed in line with the procurement act, and the government is already enjoying the benefit of those jobs,” Ugochinyere said. He noted that people are already enjoying the street light, water borehole and erosion control projects in his constituency.
Political activist Theo Agada had also urged President Tinubu to sack Wale Edun, saying Edun has been “a terrible manager of the economy”. The APC League of Democrats similarly demanded the removal of both Edun and Uzoka-Anite, accusing them of failing to implement the president’s directive on resolving the impasse with indigenous contractors.
Edun had served as finance minister and coordinating minister of the economy since August 2023. Dangiwa, a former managing director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, had served as housing minister since August 21, 2023. He previously sought the APC governorship ticket in Katsina State in 2022 and served as Secretary to the Katsina State Government before his ministerial nomination.
No further reasons for the sack were given in the Presidency’s Tuesday statement. The new appointments are subject to Senate screening and confirmation where required.
