Doris Uzoka-Anite, now a former minister of state for finance, was midway through a carefully choreographed investment and diplomatic mission in Washington when news of her move from the finance ministry began to ripple through her phone.
At first, it sounded implausible. It was initially dismissed as fake news or another rumour circulating in Abuja’s restless political ecosystem.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Finance had spent days in high-level meetings aimed at unlocking foreign investment flows into Africa’s most populous nation and improving ties with the Trump administration, a trip personally approved by President Bola Tinubu.
Yet as calls multiplied and messages grew urgent, the reality became unavoidable: while she was still representing Nigeria abroad, executing a presidential mandate, Tinubu had quietly reassigned her portfolio in a surprise cabinet reshuffle at home.
The timing stunned both the Nigerian officials and their American counterparts, some of whom were busy trying to schedule more high-level meetings for Uzoka-Anite and her delegation.