UPDATED: FIRS Generates N8.5trn In Nine Months As Adedeji Takes Over From Nami

Between January 1 and September 14 this year, the Federal Inland Revenue Service generated the sum of N8.5trn for the federation, the outgoing Executive Chairman of the Service, Muhammad Nami has said.

Nami gave the figure on Monday in Abuja during the handover ceremony to the incoming Acting Chairman of the Service, Mr Zach Adedeji.

Adedeji was appointed last week by President Bola Tinubu to take charge of the affairs of the Service.

Speaking at the event, Nami said he has implemented reforms that had reposition the operations of the FIRS in line with the mandate given to him when he took over in December 2019.

According to him, the FIRS has been able to boost government revenue to the extent that over 70 per cent of the funds shared during the monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee comes from tax collection.

Speaking at the event, Adedeji said the nation is in a revenue crisis and requires urgent steps to change the narrative,

Adedeji said that about 96 percent of the federal government revenue was spent on debt servicing, last year.

The situation, according to him was not sustainable.

He said, “We are in revenue crisis. Government revenue is low amid a huge public debt.

“Last year, 96 per cent of government revenue went into debt servicing. Where debt has grown bigger than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and debt servicing faster than revenue, immediate actions have to be taken to remedy the situation.”

On his agenda to optimise revenue generation, Adedeji said, “In this direction therefore, we will key into the reforms being made by President Bola Tinubu who has since inaugurated a Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee.

“The mandate of the Committee is to, among other things, evolve an effective design and implementation of fiscal policy and tax reforms for economic prosperity.

“At FIRS, we will embrace efforts being made to design a tidy fiscal landscape for the country and in the process address some of the obstacles impeding effective operations of the Service as the primary agency of government responsible for the administration, assessment, collection, accounting as well as enforcement of taxes and levies.”

He also promised to key into the reforms being made by President Bola Tinubu who has since inaugurated a Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee.

The mandate of the Committee is to, among other things, evolve an effective design and implementation of fiscal policy and tax reforms for economic prosperity.

At FIRS, Adedeji said his administration will embrace efforts being made to design a tidy fiscal landscape for the country and in the process address some of the obstacles impeding effective operations of the Service as the primary agency of government responsible for the administration, assessment, collection, accounting as well as enforcement of taxes and levies.

He added, “We need to innovate and build our operations on foolproof technology, while also evolving a hub of fresh ideas and creativity.

“We must definitely plug leakages. We need to strengthen our internal processes and control mechanism. We must put a high premium on effective coordination of assigned tasks and delegated responsibilities.

“Broadly, we intend to come up with a menu of strategies that will stimulate voluntary payment of taxes and levies. Yes, this is achievable because Nigerians acknowledge the need for government to increase its revenue to be able to meet its obligations to them.

“In doing this, we will build a tax system that is smart and modern, one with unquestionable integrity and will earn the trust as well as admiration of stakeholders.”