Dr. Zacch Adedeji, the new chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, says the country is in a revenue crisis and that urgent steps must be taken to change the narrative.
Adedeji announced this on Monday, shortly after taking over the agency’s leadership from his predecessor, Muhammad Nami, saying that almost 96% of Federal Government revenue was spent on debt servicing last year, emphasizing that the situation is untenable.
Nami, a former revenue agency chairman, stated that the FIRS collected N8.5 trillion in revenue into the federation account as of mid-September.
Meanwhile, Adedeji emphasized that the country was heavily in debt, saying that 96% of its earnings was spent on debt payment last year.
Adedeji said:
“We are in a revenue crisis; government revenue is low amid a huge public debt. Last year, 96 per cent of government revenue went into debt servicing.
“Where debt has grown bigger than the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, and debt servicing faster than revenue, immediate actions must be taken to remedy the situation.”
He added that the current administration has the agenda to optimise revenue by setting up a presidential fiscal Policy and Tax reforms committee.
“In this direction, therefore, we will key into the reforms being made by President Bola Tinubu, who has since inaugurated a Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee.
“The mandate of the committee is to, among other things, evolve an effective design and implementation of fiscal policy and tax reforms for economic prosperity”, he stated.
Platinum Times recalls that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Adedeji to chair FIRS last week.