Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler, is not under investigation, the Presidency has said.Fowler was over the weekend said to have been issued a query by the President’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.
Igbere TV learnt that the query meant that Fowler’s tenure would not be renewed after his first term expired on Saturday.
Senior Special Assistant on Media to the President, Garba Shehu, said on Monday via Twitter that the letter which suggests an investigation “merely raises concerns over the negative run of the tax revenue collection in recent times.”
He added: “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.
“It is noteworthy and highly commendable that under this administration, the number of taxable adults has increased from 10 million to 20 million with concerted efforts still on-going to bring a lot more into the tax net.”
