Omoniyi Salaudeen
“It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.”
–Benjamin E. Mays
President Muhammadu Buhari has received more bashing from cynics for what he did wrong in his appointments than the commendation he got for making a right choice. That is not unexpected, especially given the present level of distrust between the government and the populace. When the basic social capital is lacking, every action of government is viewed with suspect even with the best of intentions.
Regardless of all misgivings about the president, his appointment of Babatunde Fowler as the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) remains one of the most inspiring choices made so far. For his innovative ideas, taxation has undoubtedly become a sustainable source of revenue to the Federal Government.
As a key driver of the economy, the tax regime of the present administration is by far the most aggressive, most progressive, most robust and technology- driven. In comparative terms, the internal revenue generation capacity of the agency remains significantly unequalled and unparalleled. According to the revenue profile of the Federal Government, FIRS under the leadership of Fowler achieved an all-time high target of N5.320 trillion in the immediate past year, representing the highest ever in the history of the country, followed by the 2012 figure of N5.07 trillion.
Speaking recently at the opening ceremony of an FIRS stakeholders’ retreat in Lagos, Fowler disclosed: “In actual figures, in 2016, we collected N3.3 trillion, 2017 was N4.027 trillion and in 2018, we realised N5.320 trillion.”
For the current fiscal year, he put the expected target at N8 trillion with more attention on non-oil sector. In its aggressive drive to hit the target, the agency on July 1, launched a new Tax Identification Number (TIN) to “help bridge Nigeria’s growing fiscal deficit.”
The initiative, Fowler explained, would allow tax officials and taxpayers to initiate TIN registration from the comfort of their homes/offices and at their convenience. His words:“The new system is able to generate TIN automatically for newly registered cooperate taxpayers from CAC, verify TIN details and print TIN certificate, using the TIN Verification Portal.
“The system also allows tax officials and taxpayers to initiate TIN registration from the comfort of their homes/offices and at their convenience, as the system also notifies the taxpayer through a robust and secured system-system integration, with transparent and convenient benefits.”
According to Fowler, the full implementation of the new innovative strategy would not only help the Federal Government and states to share useful information that could help them catch tax evaders, but also eliminate multiple taxations and at the same time reduce the cost of collection.
Giving an insight into the percentage reduction in the cost of collection in the previous years, the Chairman added: “In 2016, it was 2.6 per cent, in 2017, it was 2.49 per cent and in 2018, it was 2.14 per cent, meaning that our cost of actual cost of collection is heading downwards based on the efficiency and technology we deployed to tax collection.”
By and large, the ongoing re-engineering effort is a recipe for sustainable economy, especially now that the government is looking at the alternative revenue to oil. Without these proactive measures, perhaps, the economy would have gone into the doldrums in the face of the unstable international market price of oil as a major source of revenue to the Federal Government.
Dr Babatunde Fowler was born to the family of Prof (Dr) and Chief (Mrs) W.V. Fowler both of Lagos State. He attended Igbobi College in Lagos and studied in the United States of America at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he obtained a bachelor degree in science in economics and a minor in political Science in 1978. He completed a second bachelor’s degree programme at California State University, Los Angeles and also a Master of Business Administration degree programme at California State University, Dominguez Hills in 1981.
He joined Commercial Bank (Credit Lyonnais Nigeria Limited) in January 1984, where he was exposed to all aspects of International Banking, Risk Management, and Clearing Operations.
Upon leaving the banking industry in 2004, Fowler joined the Lagos State government and was appointed permanent secretary/executive chairman of the Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue on November 24, 2005. Under his leadership, the state recorded a sharp increase in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from an average of N 3.6 billion per month in January 2006 to an average of over N20.5 billion per month in 2014. In addition to improved quality of service delivery to taxpayers, he also championed the use of IT and other modern methods of tax administration. His reforms laid the foundation for the financial independence of Lagos State, which is still being sustained till today.
Fowler has also been at the forefront of enlightenment campaign on tax administration and education in Africa.