Kemi Adeosun @ 53: Consumed By Her Revolution

By Chuks Ekpeneru

When Kemi Adeosun was appointed Minister of Finance by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, it was expected that she would follow in the footsteps of her largely celebrated predecessor, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and leave indelible marks.

She made her imprint in many revolutionary changes in the finance system that led to the blocking of leakages and enthronement of transparency in the system.

One of her most revolutionary changes was the introduction of the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit which sought to clean out the personnel records of government Ministries, Departments, agencies and parastatals. That change inspired by her exposed many people with fake degree certificates who were shown the door. Unfortunately for her, she became one of the victims when her NYSC exemption certificate was shown to be forged!

That led to her unceremonious exit from the federal cabinet.

She was accused of parading a fake NYSC certificate after failing to serve upon her graduation from the University of East London at age 22.

Though she might have left the cabinet without Buhari giving her public commendation, she is credited with full implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS). This raised the number of tax payers from 13 million in 2015 to 19.3 million in 2018.

That change inspired by her exposed many people with fake degree certificates who were shown the door. Unfortunately for her, she became one of the victims when her NYSC exemption certificate was shown to be forged!

Also, under her, the efficiency Unit of the Federal Ministry of Finance saved the government N34 billion in Travel and Transport alone in 2017 compared to 2016. The unit saved the government N24 billion on Stationeries and Consumables in 2017 alone compared to 2016

She instituted the 22 conditions for states to get bail out funds which improved fiscal responsibility.

She also saw to the establishment of Development Bank of Nigeria.

Her Whistleblower Policy led to the “blowing of 8,000 whistles”, which has led to 10 prosecutions, 4 convictions and the recovery of N14 billion. N440 million has been paid out to 14 people as a result

It should also be remembered that her time saw the BVN being linked to the government IPPIS Payroll System and the uncovering of nearly 50,000 multiple salaries. These are not ghost workers but public servants collecting multiple salaries.

Mrs Adeosun instituted the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit which sought to clean out the personnel records of government Ministries, Departments, agencies and parastatals. Ironically, it exposed many people with fake degree certificates who were shown the door.

Some say however, that she fell victim to a high-wire conspiracy of corrupt government officials who deployed her forged document as a blackmail tool to get her into illegally disbursing public funds to them.

Kemi was born in March 9, 1967 in London, England to Nigerian parents from Ogun State.

She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of East London and a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Financial Management from the University of London. She qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1994.

She held the position of Chairperson, board of African Export-Import Bank during her time as minister of finance. Before her ministerial appointment, she had served as commissioner for finance in Ogun State.

As she clocks 53 years today, she will be remembered as the woman that contributed her quota to national development and set the tone for some laudable economic blueprints.

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