●Africa Intelligence Reports A Quiet Power Shift Inside Tinubu’s Economic Team
Questions mount over finance minister’s alleged loss of clout and Uzoka-Anite’s rapid rise in Tinubu’s cabinet
●How access to Mr President is redefining influence in the finance ministry
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu governs with an instinct for unusual power play. Every movement counts, and every presence signals intent. Within this choreography, the place once occupied by Wale Edun, steadfast ally and longtime economic confidant, has narrowed inappreciably, according to a recent report by Africa Intelligence.
According to the Paris-based responsibilities have thinned for Nigeria’s finance minister, Edun – his access to the President has reportedly tightened as influence now travels through a different channel. That channel bears the steady imprint of Minister of State, Doris Uzoka-Anite, whose constant companionship with the President has reshaped the economics of visibility and authority at the Presidential Villa.
The presidency thrives on proximity. Seats in meetings, invitations on journeys, a nod in passing corridors. These small coordinates form a geometry that determines who shapes outcomes and who watches them take form. Under Tinubu, that geometry has begun to favour presence over pedigree, and immediacy over history.
Predictably, questions have begun to swirl around Nigeria’s finance ministry following the report by Africa Intelligence, which alleges that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has gradually stripped Finance Minister Wale Edun of key powers. The report, widely circulated in policy and diplomatic circles, frames the development as a subtle but consequential realignment within the presidency’s economic command, one that has elevated the minister of state, Doris Uzoka-Anite, through sustained proximity to the President.
According to Africa Intelligence findings, the centre of gravity within Tinubu’s economic team has shifted, leaving Edun, a long-time ally and trusted economic hand, increasingly peripheral to decisions he once shaped. The publication points to a pattern of reduced access and reassigned responsibilities, while Uzoka-Anite’s constant presence at presidential engagements has positioned her as a principal conduit for economic policy. The report has fuelled speculation in Abuja about the forces arrayed against Edun and the larger meaning of his apparent sidelining.
The account situates the development within the everyday mechanics of power rather than any formal announcement. No presidential statement declared a change in Edun’s remit, and no official memo outlined a redistribution of authority. Instead, the publication describes a presidency where influence now reveals itself through patterns of access: who attends critical meetings, who travels with the President, and whose voice is heard at the moment decisions are shaped.
Within that framework, it is noted that Uzoka-Anite occupies an increasingly influential position. Her authority, as described by the publication, derives from constancy. She appears regularly at presidential engagements, accompanies the President on key trips, and remains within close reach during discussions where economic narratives are framed and refined. This sustained proximity, the report suggests, has altered bureaucratic flows, redirecting attention and initiative toward her office.
The rise, as it is framed, has unfolded without open contestation. Rather than a dramatic displacement, it has been a gradual accumulation of influence built through repetition and availability. Each journey reinforces her role as an intermediary between presidential intent and ministerial execution, while each meeting embeds her more deeply in the policy process. Over time, this constancy has produced an authority that appears structural, anchored in trust and familiarity rather than formal hierarchy.
Officials cited in the report observe that key economic directives increasingly bear her imprint, whether in framing, timing, or coordination. Stakeholders, the report adds, have begun to recognise her as a gatekeeper capable of translating presidential priorities into actionable policy language. Influence accrues through these quiet mechanics, where visibility merges with confidence and repeated access hardens into power.
The publication places this internal adjustment within the broader logic of Tinubu’s governing style. His cabinet, Africa Intelligence argues, functions as a signalling system in which every shift communicates priorities to markets, institutions, and political allies. The reported rebalancing between Edun and Uzoka-Anite signals a presidency attentive to speed, alignment, and direct channels, particularly in the management of an economy under pressure.
Such signalling carries weight in the current economic climate. As it is outlined, Nigeria’s fiscal terrain remains strained by inflation, currency volatility, and mounting debt obligations, leaving little margin for delay or misalignment. Investors and partners, the publication notes, read proximity and body language as closely as policy text. When a minister of state consistently accompanies the President across engagements, the signal appears unmistakable: this is the channel through which economic authority now flows.
Edun’s reported sidelining, it is suggested, therefore resonates beyond personal dynamics. It points to a recalibration of economic stewardship that favours integrated presence over singular command. Edun’s diminished visibility, as described in the report, reflects a shift toward advisers who mirror the President’s tempo and remain continuously aligned with his strategic instincts.
The economy itself provides the backdrop for this realignment. Inflation continues to erode household purchasing power, currency instability unsettles business planning, and debt servicing constrains fiscal ambition. Against this backdrop, Africa Intelligence interprets Tinubu’s reliance on a trusted, ever-present aide as an expression of urgency. Uzoka-Anite’s proximity enables rapid consultation and immediate feedback, aligning her ascent with the demands of the moment.
By contrast, the publication characterises Edun’s approach as measured and technocratic, well suited to an earlier phase that required reassurance and careful calibration. As conditions evolve, the balance appears to have tilted toward agility and constant synchronisation with presidential thinking. The shift, Africa Intelligence argues, mirrors the pressures of the time rather than a repudiation of Edun’s competence or loyalty.
Notably, the report emphasises the silence surrounding the changes. Power, it observes, rarely dignifies its own rearrangements with explanations. Instead, it reveals itself through patterns of speech and absence. Within ministries, these patterns guide behaviour more effectively than any directive, prompting civil servants to recalibrate loyalties, agencies to adjust informal reporting lines, and external partners to seek new interlocutors. The system adapts, often faster than official narratives can catch up.
This organic adaptation underscores the presidency’s control over tempo. By allowing change to emerge without spectacle, Tinubu preserves flexibility and deniability. Authority remains fluid, responsive to evolving needs, and insulated from the disruptions that accompany overt restructuring.
Despite the reported internal shifts, it is noted that reverence for the presidency itself remains intact. Tinubu’s leadership continues to command loyalty across political and institutional divides, with his political instincts shaping the administration’s direction. The adjustments within his economic team project confidence, suggesting a willingness to recalibrate without public drama. Even amid tension, the presidency maintains an outward posture of assurance, encouraging allies to adapt while the broader agenda proceeds.
Within this narrative, Edun’s experience remains part of a larger continuum. The publication acknowledges his role in stabilising early economic turbulence, laying groundwork upon which subsequent adjustments have been built. Though his scope may have narrowed, his service forms a significant chapter in the administration’s economic story.
The human dimension of the shift also emerges in the Africa Intelligence account. Transitions from central influence to the margins carry emotional weight, particularly when forged from years of shared vision. Such moments test resilience and character. Uzoka-Anite’s ascent, while advantageous, brings its own pressures, as constant visibility amplifies scrutiny and proximity invites heightened expectations.
Together, these trajectories illustrate a presidency governed by rhythm rather than rigidity. Tinubu, as the publication describes, listens, observes, and adjusts, allowing members of his cabinet to rise or recede in response to evolving priorities. This fluidity permits course correction without rupture and sustains momentum in an economy that demands swift responses. The ability to recalibrate roles quietly reinforces stability, reassuring markets even as internal dynamics shift.
At the heart of the Paris-based publication’s report lies the language of access. Who enters the room shapes outcomes. Uzoka-Anite’s access positions her as an interpreter of presidential intent, while Edun’s reduced presence constrains his capacity to shape narratives at their point of origin. Within Aso Rock, this language governs behaviour, directing ambition toward proximity and redefining authority.
The question posed by the report, and now circulating widely in Abuja, remains pointed: who is after Wale Edun, and what does his apparent sidelining reveal about power in Tinubu’s presidency? For now, the answers lie less in formal decrees than in the instructive dynamics of presence and absence. As is often the case in the political circuit, power seldom announces its movements; it drifts, settles, and reveals itself through access, trust, and proximity.
