* Query Amounts To Vote Of No Confidence In Him

Temidayo Akinsuyi, Lagos

There are strong indications that President Muhammadu Buhari may not renew the appointment of Babatunde Fowler, embattled chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Daily Independent has gathered.

Fowler was appointed on August 21, 2015, and his term is renewable, but he was at the weekend issued a query by the presidency, through Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, over FIRS’s alleged inability to meet revenue target since Fowler was appointed in 2015.

In the query personally signed and stamp-dated August 8 by Abba Kyari, the presidency said it “observed significant variances between the budgeted collections and actual collections for the period 2015 to 2018”.
According to FIRS’s official records, FIRS had not been able to meet collection targets since Fowler took over the headship of the service in 2015, unlike the preceding years.

However, in his response to the query, Fowler blamed oil market crisis for the shortfalls in tax revenues. He also blamed the period of recession for the shortfalls in tax collection.

He agreed that actual tax collection since the beginning of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was lower than the 2012-2014 period under former president, Goodluck Jonathan, in general terms.
Regardless, Fowler told the presidency that FIRS under him had performed better regarding specific non-oil tax types, such as VAT and CIT.

Speaking with our correspondent on Tuesday, a presidency source said Fowler might not be re-appointed because the query issued him by the presidency few days before the end of his tenure was tantamount to a vote of no confidence.
“There is a possibility that his appointment will not be renewed. With all he (Fowler) claimed he has done in the last four years, getting a query like that from the presidency few days to the expiration of his first term is a confirmation that his performance is not satisfactory, and he failed to meet or exceed the expectations of his employer.
“He has responded to the query, giving reasons why there is a shortfall in revenue but I believe the presidency will not accept his excuses.
“Before issuing him the query, they knew there was recession and they also knew there was drop in prices of crude oil. In essence, the query is a vote of no confidence in Fowler and there is a high probability that a replacement will be made by the presidency,” he said.
Speaking in a chat with Daily Independent, Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, said the query issued by the presidency to Fowler was a testimony to how badly the economy had performed since 2015 when the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) came to power with a promise of change.
Odumakin said the admittance by the presidency that the country generated more revenues between 2012 and 2014 when the country was ruled by a ‘corrupt’ Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – led government had buttressed the fact that APC brought a negative change to the country as many companies which were contributing to the revenue base had closed shop.
“It is laughable when I read the query Abba Kyari gave to him. It is more or less the indictment of this government if they didn’t know.
“When Kyari said there were more monies from taxes made in 2012 to 2014 before APC brought change, so what is the meaning of their change?
“If we can generate more taxes before change, what is the essence of your change? You generate taxes based on productivity.
“Do you generate taxes from dead companies? If you go to a place like Ikeja, most of the industrial companies there have been taken over by AMCON. How will those ones pay taxes?”
“We are now the poorest country on earth on the Global Index on Poverty. We generate more taxes under a ‘corrupt’ administration but tax generation has gone down under a government that’s fighting corruption.
The query is a self-indictment by the government,” he said.
https://www.independent.ng/why-buhari-may-not-renew-fowlers-appointment-as-firs-boss/

Seems they are already crippling Tinubu's wings ahead of 2023

Ok now

One is not surprised with the report from "independent" going by the publisher's political leanings.

Whch political leanings ?

kayusely70:
One is not surprised with the report from "independent" going by the publisher's political leanings.

what's your reason for saying this?

kayusely70:
One is not surprised with the report from "independent" going by the publisher's political leanings.

You see your life? Walking corpse

kayusely70:
One is not surprised with the report from "independent" going by the publisher's political leanings.

hisexcellency34:
You see your life? Walking corpse

Im sure the replacement is your relation, congrats!

I'm just telling you to use your head and stop making unfounded allegations. Do you know more than the newspapers who said the man's tenure won't be renewed?

kayusely70:
Im sure the replacement is your relation, congrats!