The Nigeria Senate, on Wednesday, commenced the screening of Taiwo Oyedele, the immediate past Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, following his nomination as Minister of State for Finance.

The screening comes barely 24 hours after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu transmitted a letter to the Senate seeking Oyedele’s confirmation for appointment into the Federal Executive Council, to replace Doris Uzoka-Anite.

In a separate communication, the President also requested the confirmation of former senator representing Rivers South-East, Magnus Abe, as Chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

Both requests were contained in letters read on the floor of the Senate during plenary by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.

In his letter, Tinubu urged the upper chamber to consider and approve Oyedele’s nomination as part of ongoing adjustments within the Federal Executive Council aimed at strengthening economic management.

Until his nomination, Oyedele, who hails from Ikaram in Akoko, Ondo State, served as Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, where he led key initiatives to overhaul Nigeria’s tax system and improve fiscal governance.

Oyedele, 50, is an economist, accountant and public policy expert with extensive experience in tax policy and economic reform. Before heading the presidential tax reform committee, he spent 22 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he joined in 2001 and rose to become Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.

Following the reading of the President’s letter, Akpabio referred the nomination to the appropriate Senate committee for further legislative action in line with the chamber’s constitutional oversight responsibilities.