The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, has been reportedly flown abroad for treatment.
Sources close to the minister confirmed on Tuesday morning that he left Abuja for Lagos on Monday night via a commercial flight and later departed for London aboard a British Airways flight on the same night.
The minister was reported to have suffered a stroke.
The report of his illness was first published by Western Post.
The sources said the minister had taken ill in recent days but dismissed earlier rumours that he had suffered stroke or was incapacitated.
Until his departure, Presidency officials on Sunday had maintained that Edun was recuperating at his Abuja residence under the care of Nigerian doctors.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, also confirmed that the minister had fallen ill but was initially receiving treatment 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.
The Presidency had earlier debunked speculation that President Bola Tinubu was considering a replacement for the finance minister.
However, it confirmed that the minister would miss this year’s World Bank and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C.
According to a statement by Onanuga, the Central Bank Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, would instead lead Nigeria’s delegation to the global finance meetings, which begin today, Tuesday, October 14.
At the time of this report, the Ministry of Finance had yet to issue an official statement on the minister’s whereabouts.
