Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has been flown to the United Kingdom for medical treatment, multiple government sources confirmed on Tuesday morning.
The development, first reported by an online newspaper, Western Post, was corroborated by a senior government source
The source confirmed on Tuesday that the decision had been taken, saying, “It’s true, he has left Nigeria.”
According to reports, the minister left Abuja for Lagos on Monday evening via a commercial flight before departing later that night for London aboard a British Airways flight.
Until his departure, officials at the Presidency maintained that Edun was recuperating at his Abuja residence under the supervision of local doctors.
“He’s indisposed. He’s sick, which is a bit serious, but it’s not a stroke. As I’m talking to you, he’s in his house. He’s not been flown anywhere,” a senior government official had said on Sunday.
Another aide familiar with the matter said the President had been following Edun’s condition closely but stressed that there were “no plans to replace him.”
Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, also confirmed that the finance minister had fallen ill but was initially receiving care in Nigeria.
“Yes, he’s indisposed. Wale Edun is about 69 years old. He suddenly fell ill. As we are talking, he is in Nigeria. He is recuperating. He’s around,” Onanuga said on Sunday.
Recall that the Presidency on Sunday dismissed rumours that President Tinubu was considering a replacement for Edun, though it confirmed that he would miss this year’s World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C.
In Edun’s absence, Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso is currently leading Nigeria’s delegation to the global finance meetings, which commenced on Tuesday, October 14.
Appointed on August 28, 2023, Wale Edun has been a key figure in the Tinubu administration’s economic reform agenda, overseeing the removal of fuel subsidies, the unification of foreign exchange rates, and fiscal measures aimed at stabilising the naira and curbing inflation.
A former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance (1999–2004) under the then-Governor Tinubu, Edun also co-founded the investment banking firm Denham Management Limited.
