New FIRS Chairman, Fowler assumes office

fowler

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The newly appointed acting Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, on Tuesday assumed leadership of the service, pledging to work with state revenue agencies and relevant stakeholders to shore-up tax revenue and improve on the country’s tax administration.

Addressing staff in Abuja while taking over the mantle of leadership from the out-going acting Executive Chairman of the service, Mr. Sunday Ogungbesan, Fowler said the FIRS should be able to take the lead in tax revenue collection as well as share information and ideas with the States Board of Internal Revenue (SBIR) to improve tax administration in the country.

He assured of a new era at FIRS which would be predicated on the resolve of the presidency to ensure maximum increase in tax revenue to end the country’s absolute dependency on oil proceeds.

He said: “My vision and mission is neither to alter the existing management organogram structure in FIRS nor lay-off management staff from their duty posts, but to take FIRS as well as the nation’s tax system to an enviable height.

“This we cannot achieve all alone without a robust partnership and collaboration of all stakeholders within and outside the system. We must build a synergy for a healthy exchange of information between FIRS and SBIR.

He said: “This synergy will produce the best form of revenue generation in the FIRS and the states in general as well as ensuring that over dependency on oil revenue becomes a thing of the past.”

The new acting FIRS boss, in a statement by the Assistant Director, Communications and Servicom Department, FIRS, Nneka Ifekwuna, further argued that the antidote to the current economic challenging  was for the service to raise revenue accruing from tax collection to “records high” so that government programmes could be well funded.

However, Ogungbesan urged the staff to cooperate with Fowler in his new capacity.

He said:” The chairman needs the support of all staff to succeed in the business of raising revenue and we must not lose sight of satisfy the government.’’

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