The Senate has received the 2026 statutory budget of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) from President Bola Tinubu for consideration and approval.
The letter conveying the budget proposal was read on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, during plenary following a three-week recess for the budget defence exercise.
In a separate correspondence, President Tinubu requested the Senate to confirm Taiwo Oyedele as a minister. The request was subsequently referred to the Committee of the Whole for further legislative consideration.
The Senate President also read another letter from the President seeking confirmation of Mainasara Illo as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Anti-Doping Centre. The nomination was referred to the Senate committees on Narcotics and Drugs and Sports for joint screening.
President Bola Tinubu shakes Taiwo Oyedele in Abuja after he signed four tax bills into law on June 26, 2025
In addition, President Tinubu requested confirmation of Magnus Abe as Chairman of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), alongside two commissioner nominees.
Another letter from the President sought confirmation of Francis Ifeanyi Asogwa as a commissioner representing the South-East in a federal commission. The nomination was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters for screening.
The Senate also received requests from the President to confirm two nominees as commissioners of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission: Amina Gamawa from Bauchi State and Abdullahi Murktar from Kaduna State.
All nominations have been referred to the relevant committees for further legislative action and screening.
The Nigerian Senate
If confirmed by the Senate, Oyedele, who chaired Tinubu’s tax reforms committee, will replace Doris Uzoka-Anite as the Minister of State for Finance.
The nomination of the former fiscal policy partner and Africa tax leader at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as minister was announced in a statement by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, last week.
Uzoka-Anite will now move to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, as the Minister of State, her third portfolio in the administration, the presidential spokesman added.
The 50-year-old Oyedele is a public policy expert, an accountant, and an economist.
He attended Yaba College of Technology and bagged a Higher National Diploma (HND) in accountancy and finance.
Oyedele also earned a BSc in applied accounting from Oxford Brookes University.
