The Senate on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Taiwo Oyedele as Minister of State for Finance, following nearly three hours of questioning by senators across party lines on economic and financial matters.

During the confirmation hearing, Oyedele outlined a series of strategies aimed at stabilising government revenues, improving contractor payments, and broadening Nigeria’s revenue base.

On managing the country’s reliance on crude oil, Oyedele suggested that forward sales could insulate the economy from price volatility while providing predictable fuel pricing for citizens.

“One strategy used in several countries is selling crude forward. Nigeria can lock in a price for a portion of our crude for a period of time.

“That would guarantee budget financing and also give Nigerians stability, so prices are not fluctuating the way we have seen in recent days,” he said.

Addressing the perennial challenge of delayed contractor payments, Oyedele proposed awarding contracts based on available funds to prevent a “trust deficit premium,” whereby a contract initially costing N1bn could rise to N2bn due to delayed government payments.

He also pointed to Nigeria’s untapped revenue potential outside oil and taxation.

“For many years as a country, we have disproportionately focused on taxation and oil and gas, and that has taken our attention away from other areas where we can generate revenue,” Oyedele said.

Highlighting the solid minerals sector, he added, “What we have identified as the biggest impediment to the growth of the solid minerals sector is policy uncertainty.

“The team and the Minister of Solid Minerals have been doing a lot, but we need to complement that with a policy certainty environment. We may be coming to the National Assembly in this regard.”

Oyedele stressed the importance of realistic budgeting and full execution of approved projects.

“When we have budgets, we need to ensure that there is funding behind them and that there are releases so that we can execute them — 100 per cent if possible — particularly for capital expenditure.

“Looking at Nigeria’s budgets over the past five years, many appeared too ambitious compared to the revenue. We were focusing on expenditure without paying enough attention to the revenue side,” he added.

He further highlighted that nearly half of Nigeria’s budgets are currently deficit-financed.

“Today, if you combine the federal and state governments, nearly half of our budgets are deficit-financed. We need to pay more attention to realistic revenue to drive our projects,” Oyedele said.

Outlining his immediate priorities if confirmed, he said: “If I am confirmed by this distinguished Senate, one of the first things I will do is create a clear status quo analysis. If we owe contractors, we should know it.

“We should say: as of today, this is how much we owe contractors, this is how much we have, this is the gap, and this is how we plan to raise the money,” he said.

On government spending and inflation, Oyedele noted, “If the government gets more revenue because subsidies have been removed, it is actually a transfer from the people to the government.

“The only way we can make that sacrifice worthwhile is to spend that money in areas of priority for the people.”

He also expressed confidence that targeted investments in infrastructure linking farms to markets could generate rapid economic benefits.

“Those priorities can be as basic as roads from the farm to the warehouse, to the factory, and to the markets. When that happens, people see the impact almost immediately,” he said.

Following the nearly three-hour screening, the Senate confirmed his appointment as Minister of State for Finance.

Following Oyedele’s confirmation, Senate President Godswill Akpabio commended President Bola Tinubu for appointing “a round peg for a round hole.”

Akpabio also praised Oyedele’s expertise and suitability for the role.