Uche Usim, Abuja
Following the removal of Mr Tunde Fowler, as the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, economic experts have advised his successor, Mr Muhammad Nami to focus more on deploying appropriate technology drive taxes, and value added tax administration to ensure they are collected and remitted electronically across the country. They also urged the new FIRS helmsman to evolve and supervise a creative strategy that will swell government’s revenue and reduce the temptation of borrowing massively to finance the budget.
They further advised the incoming FIRS boss to look into ways of bringing the high net worth individuals who are currently evading taxes into the tax net.
Fowler’s tenure expired on Monday December, 9 but a statement by the Presidency said he is expected to hand over to the most senior director on the board, who will take charge, pending the Senate confirmation of the new board. Under Fowler’s tenure, the FIRS generated its highest revenue of N5.3 trillion in 2018.
Commenting on President Buhari’s refusal to renew Fowler’s five-year tenure, the Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Mr Eze Onyekpere, described the development as shocking since the former FIRS boss has shown sufficient capacity to take the agency to the next level.
“I thought he would be re-appointed. Fowler understands the system and he has made giant strides in repositoning tax administration in the country. “I thought the next five years would have been a period of consolidation after the first term. He has practical experience and I don’t know if the new man is from within the system.
“Well, it’s the President’s discretion to appoint a replacement or retain him. The new man should work hard to surpass Fowler’s target using ICT and enthroning transparency”, he told Daily Sun.
Also commenting, a Development Economist, Mr Odilim Enwegbara asked the new FIRS Chief Executive to work on e-vat and e-tax in general. “This entails deploying ICT efficiently.