Kemi Adeosun Breaks Silence on Resignation and the ‘Price of Integrity’
By Patience Ikpeme
Breaking years of relative quiet, former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has provided a rare, behind-the-scenes account of her 2018 departure from the federal cabinet, describing her exit as a sacrificial act to preserve the sanctity of public office.
Appearing on Channels Television’s Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, Adeosun clarified that her decision to step down amid the controversy surrounding her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate was a matter of professional ethics rather than a confession of guilt.
Reflecting on the whirlwind of September 2018, Adeosun noted that many were baffled by her choice to walk away from one of the nation’s most powerful roles.
“People kept asking why did I resign? That no one resigns as minister of finance like I did? I still think it was the right thing for me to do,” she told the programme.
She argued that the prestige of the nation was at stake, noting the impossibility of balancing high-level diplomacy with a looming legal battle over her persona. “My resignation is a matter of principle and not an admission of wrongdoing. It was a step to protect the Office of the Minister of Finance and defend my reputation. I can’t be attending local and international meetings as minister of finance, and also appearing in a court in a case of integrity and reputation,” she stated.
Adeosun further revealed that she personally approached then-President Muhammadu Buhari to signal her exit. “I went to see Mr. President and I said, ‘Mr. President, I need to go. I need to go to court because I have to clear my name.’ Mr. President supported my decision to approach the court to clear my name through legal means.”
For the former minister, the battle was about a legacy that transcends politics. “These names are leased from our children and our grandchildren. You don’t destroy your name because you want to stay as minister,” she said.
Her stance was eventually validated by a Federal High Court in Abuja. In July 2021, Justice Taiwo Taiwo ruled that Adeosun was never actually required to participate in the NYSC scheme.
The court found that at the time of her graduation from the University of East London in 1989 at age 22, Adeosun was a British citizen. Under the 1979 Constitution then in force, which did not recognize dual citizenship, she was ineligible for the scheme. By the time her Nigerian citizenship reverted under later laws, she was already over the age of 30, making her exempt. The court concluded that her ministerial appointment was neither illegal nor unconstitutional.
Beyond her personal journey, Adeosun offered a candid assessment of Nigeria’s fiscal landscape, throwing her weight behind the removal of fuel subsidies. She characterized the previous subsidy regime as a self-inflicted wound that the entire cabinet was aware of.
“There was no minister who did not know that subsidy was killing us,” she said, pointing to the mathematical impossibility of the era’s data. “We had consumption figures of about 65 million litres per day with only about 10 million cars. It was not possible.”
She insisted that the diverted funds are better utilized for social infrastructure. “Money spent on subsidy is money you can’t spend on roads, education or health,” she noted, though she cautioned that the government must provide “structural solutions, not just palliatives,” to help citizens weather the transition.
On the subject of taxation, she remained firm on the need for rigor. “When you’re Minister of Finance, the word ‘no’ becomes your watchword. If your finance minister is loved by everybody, they’re probably not doing much of a job.”
She expressed optimism regarding the current administration’s push for data harmonisation, suggesting that merging NIN, BVN, and TIN into a single source of truth—aided by Artificial Intelligence—is the only way to catch tax evaders. “Once you have data, and with AI, you can see very quickly who is not playing the game fairly,” she added.
Since leaving office, Adeosun has pivoted to “citizen-led development” through her social enterprise, DashMe Stores. The charity retail model, which she intends to expand to Ibadan, Port Harcourt, and Kano, has already raised over ₦500 million for orphanages and vulnerable groups.
“I don’t get paid. The only people who are paid are the shop staff. Everything else goes back into helping people,” she explained.
Discussing the broader issue of poverty, she argued that while the numbers in Nigeria are high due to population size, the real focus should be on social mobility. “The worst kind of poverty is generational poverty… Are we seeing young people from villages who have hope of a middle-class life through education or enterprise? If we are, then there is reason to be optimistic.”
Adeosun concluded by challenging Nigerians to take the lead in social reform rather than waiting for the state. “Government never starts anything. People start, and government takes it over. It’s the people that lead government. One of our challenges in Nigeria is that we expect government to lead the people. It should be the other way around.”
