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

The screening exercise began barely 24 hours after Bola Ahmed Tinubu formally requested the Senate to screen and confirm Oyedele for appointment into the Federal Executive Council. If confirmed, he will replace Doris Uzoka-Anite.

In separate correspondence to the upper legislative chamber, the president also sought confirmation of Magnus Abe as chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

The letters conveying the nominations were read during plenary by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.

In his letter, President Tinubu urged lawmakers to consider and approve Oyedele’s nomination as part of ongoing adjustments within the Federal Executive Council.

Prior to his nomination, Oyedele, a native of Ikaram in Akoko, Ondo State, served as chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, where he led initiatives aimed at overhauling Nigeria’s tax system.

Oyedele, 50, is an economist, accountant and public policy expert. Before heading the presidential tax reform committee, he spent 22 years at the global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he joined in 2001 and rose to become Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.

Following the reading of the president’s letters, Akpabio referred the nominations to the Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream for further legislative consideration in line with the chamber’s constitutional oversight responsibilities.