Mr. Falae was Minister of Finance under the military administration of Ibrahim Babangida and later served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation. He was detained by the military administration of Sani Abacha over his demand for the return of democracy to the nation. He was freed when the taciturn general died. In 1999, he was the joint presidential candidate of the defunct All Peoples Party, APP, and the Alliance for Democracy. He, however, lost to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He belongs to the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere and also the chairman of the revitalised Social Democratic Party (SDP). He is coming in on the elder statesmen category from Ondo State.