He was also a commissioner for Finance and Industry in Ogun State,[1] and sat on the board of the Obasanjo Presidential Library.
He trained as a sociologist and studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science and University of Manchester.
He was also the commissioner of industry in the western region before he was appointed the minister of finance.
Soleye preferred administrative controls on foreign exchange; he rejected proposals to drastically devalue the naira.
He also decided to print new notes in April 1984, to prevent the repatriation of naira through smuggling.