FIRS gets plaudits from NASS for collecting N21.6trn in tax revenue

The amount collected is N2.2trillion higher than the N19.4trillion collection target the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) set for itself for 2024. The National Assembly has therefore, lauded the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mr Zacch Adedeji, for exceeding the 2024 revenue collection target of N19.4 trillion. FIRS generated N21.6 trillion, surpassing the target by N2.2 trillion. The commendation came during a meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, where the FIRS chairman appeared before the joint committee on Finance to defend the service’s revenue projections for 2025. The committee proposed a N25 trillion revenue generation target for FIRS in the coming fiscal year. Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Saidu Abdullahi, was the first to commend Adedeji’s performance, calling it “unprecedented” and “worthy of commendation.” “The feat achieved by FIRS in revenue collection for 2024 was unprecedented and truly commendable. “Surpassing the target set for the agency in the 2024 Appropriation Act, from N19.4 trillion to N21.6 trillion, is both encouraging and impressive,” he said. READ ALSO: New tax bill will ease burden on workers – FG replies NLC He encouraged the FIRS to study the tax collection methods of South Africa, which generated higher tax revenue, and to focus on expanding the taxable base to include more informal sector workers. Sen. Joel Onowakpo emphasised that tax collection was a global norm, and advised the committee to raise FIRS’s projected 2025 revenue target to N30 trillion. Similarly, Sen. Binos Yeroe lauded Adedeji’s innovative approach in surpassing the 2024 target. “Your performance in 2024 was highly commendable, and I hope you continue to maintain this level of success,” he said. Rep. Etanabene Benedict suggested aiming for N60 trillion in 2025 to avoid borrowing. Committee chairmen also supported the proposed N25 trillion revenue goal for 2025; with Sen. Sani Musa stating that it was both “achievable and surpassable.”

Tinubu resumes office after two-week vacation

President Bola Tinubu has resumed duties at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja. Pictures released from the State House Monday showed the President at his desk receiving a briefing from the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr Zacch Adedeji. It read, “President Bola Tinubu at his desk this morning, after returning from a two-week vacation. Mr President received a briefing from Zaccheus Adedeji, Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service. Abuja, Monday, October 21, 2024.” Tinubu arrived in Abuja, on Saturday, after a two-week working vacation in the United Kingdom and France. The President departed Abuja on Wednesday, October 2, a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed. Onanuga said, “President Bola Tinubu will depart Abuja today for the United Kingdom to begin a two-week vacation, part of his yearly leave.“ He will use the two weeks as a working vacation and a retreat to reflect on his administration’s economic reforms.“He will return to the country after the leave expires,” the statement said. On October 11, President Tinubu left the UK for Paris in France for “an important engagement,” his Senior Special Assistant on Political and Other Matters, Ibrahim Masari, disclosed in a tweet that Friday. He returns amid concerns over delays in the presentation of the 2025 appropriation bill.

Suspicious Payments: Presidential Tax Committee Received N5bn From FIRS -Chairman

The Chairman, Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele has confirmed that the committee got the sum of N5 billion from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). In a statement on his official X handle, the Chairman, Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele said the statement became necessary due to a report by the Cable Newspaper that the immediate past FIRS Chairman, Muhammad Nami, approved the sum of N11 billion after he left office. But in a statement Thursday, Nami explained that the Cable report was out to tarnish his hard-earned reputation. In the statement, Nami took time to explain the approvals he carried out before he left the revenue agency. “The N5 billion paid to the Joint Tax Board was paid to fund the activities of the Presidential Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy Reforms two months before I left office. It was paid after we received a letter to that effect from the office of Mr. President signed by Zacch Adedeji himself.  “The report maliciously attempts to portray a picture that I hurriedly left the country on September 16th after these so-called “suspicious approvals” were made. Again, nothing can be further from the truth. If I traveled out of the country on the 16th of September, how then did I attend the handover ceremony with Mr. Zacch on the afternoon of Monday 18th September 2023? That handover ceremony was covered by the media, and can be cross-checked.  “It is disappointing to see the Cable, a revered online newspaper attempt to sensationalise events that took place in the ordinary course of work in office, making them seem as if they were done in bad faith,” Nami said. Oyedele said, “We are aware of a recent story regarding some funds transferred by the FIRS to the Joint Tax Board (JTB) for the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee.   “The Committee’s budget includes provisions for a national “Data for Tax” project which the JTB has been championing for over 2 years. The project was presented to the National Economic Council in 2022 and was meant to be funded by the federal government and the 36 states. However, it stalled due to lack of funds. Given the importance of the project to the effective reform of our tax system, it was included in the Committee’s budget.  “Other expenses included in the Committee’s budget, which has the approval of the National Assembly, include setting up of offices for the Committee in Lagos and Abuja, payment of salaries for the full time staff engaged by the Committee, travels and other logistics for over 70 members representing more than 40 institutions and stakeholder groups mapped to 6 different Subcommittees, more than 30 Secretariat personnel and over 40 students across the country. In addition, the budget covers planned stakeholder engagements with various sectors and interest groups, as well as international engagements and understudy of some leading tax regimes around the world, and so on. The budget covers a period of one year being the lifespan of the Committee. “It should be noted that the Committee was not set up simply to produce reports and recommendations, we are also charged with the implementation of recommended and approved proposals which need to be funded.  “The Committee’s mandate includes ensuring prudence and accountability in the management of our national resources. It will therefore be a contradiction for the same Committee to be wasteful or reckless in its own affairs. Members of the Committee work on a volunteering basis and are only paid reasonable allowances to cover their out-of-pocket expenses as we cannot afford to pay the commercial value for their time, skills and experience. As the Chairman of the Committee, despite working full time on the assignment, I do not receive a salary. “All the expenses of the Committee are properly documented and available for audit. We collect receipts for fuel, stationeries, and virtually every Naira that we spend to the extent possible. Over N4 billion of the said funds transferred by the FIRS to the JTB for the Committee’s work is yet to be spent and very much intact in the JTB account.” He assured that the Committee will be responsible, prudent and accountable with every Naira of public funds that it will be entrusted with.