By Peter Ayoade
Dr. Zacch Adelabu Adedeji is one of the most powerful behind-the-scene actors in Ogbomoso, Oyo state and national politics at the moment. He is the current Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) Chairman, former Oyo Finance Commissioner under late Governor Abiola Ajimobi and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s loyal tax brain.
In the theatre of Nigerian politics, some men crave the spotlight, others build the stage, write the script and decide who gets a role. Dr. Zacch Adelabu Adedeji, FCA belongs to the latter.
Prior to the inevitable call to Abuja, Zacch Adelabu Adedeji was already shaping Oyo’s fiscal destiny. As Commissioner for Finance under the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi, 2011–2015, he was the brain behind Oyo’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) revolution. From N600 million monthly to over N2 billion, he proved beyond reasonable doubt that competence, not noise builds states. While others held microphones, he held Excel sheets and Oyo state became financially stronger for it. History is archival, but this record is instructive.
Today, as Executive Chairman of the NRS and Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, Dr. Adelabu Adedeji sits at the engine room of Nigeria’s economy. Tax reforms, fiscal policy and revenue drive the unglamorous work that funds the glamour of governance. He is President Tinubu’s “Mr. Revenue”, trusted to fix what is broken without fanfare.
Yet, for all his Abuja enormous responsibilities, Zacch’s heart never left Oyo state. He is the quintessential Ogbomoso-born technocrat with Ibadan political sagacity. Ask Oyo APC leaders in private: when big decisions are to be made; 2023 elections, 2027 permutations, appointments and reconciliations, Zacch’s phone rings. He doesn’t grant many interviews. He doesn’t dance at rallies. But his counsel moves more than mountains. Ceteris paribus, no serious political alignment in Oyo State today ignores the “Adedeji factor”.
However, Oyo politics is shifting. New alliances are forming. And behind the scene, men like Dr. Adelabu Adedeji are the bridge between Abuja’s power and Oyo’s grassroots. He represents a new model: the technocrat-protagonist. Not contesting, but deciding. Not shouting, but settling. Not seen on every billboard, but felt in every budget.
The river that forgets its source will dry up. Zacch Adelabu Adedeji has not forgotten Oyo and Oyo’s political class, ceteris paribus, they are likely not to forget Zacch Adelabu Adedeji when 2027 comes.
He is not always in front of the camera, Adedeji is in the room where it happens.
Peter Ayoade is an Historian and Journalist. He writes from Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
