By John Ameh
The presidency has clarified that the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Tunde Fowler is not under probe.
There had been media reports that Mr. Fowler who is rounding off his first term of four years as Executive Chairman, FIRS, might not be re-appointed following the presidency’s displeasure over dwindling tax revenue collections by the service.
However, President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity), Garba Shehu, on Monday, dispelled the rumours.
He noted that under the Buhari-led administration, the number of taxable adults had increased from 10 million to 20 million, adding that concerted efforts are being made to bring a lot more into the tax net.
The statement reads in part: “In a press statement on Monday, Garba said the letter from Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari to Mr. Fowler, only raised the government’s “concerns over the negative run of the tax revenue collection in recent times.”
“Following reports making the rounds in some media outlets, it is necessary to state categorically that the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Babatunde Fowler, is not under any investigation.
“The letter from the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, on which the purported rumour of an investigation is based, merely raises concerns over the negative run of the tax revenue collection in recent times.
“Taking a cue from today’s (Monday) presentation of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Retreat for Ministers-Designate, Federal Permanent Secretaries and Top Government Functionaries , which dwelt on an ‘Overview of the Policies , Programmes and Project Audit Committee,’ a body he chaired, projected revenue of government falls behind recurrent expenditure even without having factored in capital expenditure.
“Consequently, it would appear that the country might be heading for a fiscal crisis if urgent steps are not taken to halt the negative trends in target setting and target realisation in tax revenue.
“Anyone conversant with Federal Executive Council deliberations would have observed that issues bordering on revenue form the number one concern of what Nigeria faces today, and therefore, often take a prime place in discussions of the body.”
