Edun; current Presidential Advisor on Monetary Policies had his turn Tuesday at the Ministerial Screening. He however, had to grapple with the mixed bag of accolades and bombardment that came his way. Here’s a summary of his session.
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Following the Senate’s resumption of screening for Minister Designates on Tuesday, the lawmakers screened nine of the fourteen remaining nominees.
One of the nominees screened is Adebayo Olawale Edun; President Bola Tinubu’s Finance Commissioner when he served as Governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007.
The nominee with a background in merchant banking, corporate finance, economics, and international finance at national and international levels is the Chairman of Chapel Hill Denham Group, Lagos, a leading investment bank. He was an Executive Director at the Lagos Merchant Bank, Investment Banking and Trust Company Limited, now Stanbic IBTC.
During the screening process, Edun who hails from Ake in Abeokuta, Ogun State received several commendations from Senators; especially from his home state. The Senate Caucus from Ogun State and several other Senators backed Edun as “one of the best” from the state and urged their colleagues to confirm him for a ministerial role in Tinubu’s government.
Among those who spoke positively of the nominee is the former governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniels. According to him, “This is a man that we are proud about. He is one of best in his generation.”
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The lawmakers including the President of the Senate asked Edun to explain how he would replicate his successes in Lagos as a Commissioner for Finance if appointed Minister of Finance.
He assured the lawmakers that as Finance Minister or Minister of the Economy, there will be continued improvement in the fiscal situation of the country at both the federal and the state levels, noting that he would computerise the system to cut waste and debt to achieve a fiscal turnaround.
Other inquiries made of Edun includes how, if appointed, he intended to strengthen Nigeria’s monetary policy, and how he proposes to assist the federal government in providing Nigerians with palliatives promised them to lessen the impact of the eliminated fuel subsidy, particularly those without bank accounts.
Furthermore, in order to ensure a thorough and simple accounting procedure, the Ministerial nominee was asked to explain how he intended to manage the existing foreign exchange (FOREX).
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In his responses to one of the questions, Edun said: “The economy is going through pain, and that is why President Tinubu is trying to protect the poor. We need to support this process to move this country to the right place it belongs.”
Recall that the Senate on Monday screened fourteen out of the twenty-eight nominees were thus screened on the first day. They are Senator Abubakar S. Kyari (Borno State), Senator Abubakar Sani Danladi (Taraba State), Senator John Owan Enoh (Cross River State), Hon. Abubakar Eshiokpekha Momoh (Edo State), Hon. Nkiru Onyejeocha (Abia State), Hon. (Dr). Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo and Hon. Bello Muhammad (Sokoto State).
Others are Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (Rivers State), Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa State), Amb. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (Bauchi State), Prof. Joseph Terlumun Utsev (Benue State), Barr. Uju Ken-Ohaneye (Anambra State), Dr. Betta C. Edu (Cross River State) and Imaan Sulaiman Ibrahim (Nasarawa State)
