The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), virtually collapsed under its previous management, its new chief has said.
Muhammad Nami, who assumed office as chairman last December, said he had to “build the entire structure of the service again from scratch.”

This is not the first time Mr Nami is criticising the administration of his predecessor, Babatunde Fowler. In December, while giving his first Christmas message and felicitation to the revenue agency’s staff, he accused Mr Fowler’s management of superintending a steady decline in revenue collection by the service since the inception of his tenure in 2015.

Mr Nami assumed office on December 19, 2019.

In a recent interview with PREMIUM TIMES and other journalists in Abuja, he said his first 100 days in office has been challenging.

“It’s challenging because it appears I am having to build the entire structure of the service again from scratch in addition to meeting the huge target set for us by the federal government.
“So, you can see that it is not an easy ride.

But, so far I thank God that we are gradually patching things up. The members of staff have been very cooperative and supportive,” he said.
He said that when he came on board, the entire structure of the agency had virtually collapsed.
“So I had the daunting task of piecing together the pieces,” he said.

He also said the staff are quite excited now and willing to work harder than before because he took steps to return the functions previously given to consultants back to the staff so that they can perform optimally.

Fowler’s performance
Upon assumption of office in August 2015, Mr Fowler introduced the use of tax consultants in the collection of tax revenues and other services, a policy brought forward from his time as the head of the Lagos State Revenue Service.

Despite the controversy that trailed the use of tax consultants to carry out services thousands of regular FIRS staff were competent and qualified to render, Mr Fowler sustained the policy till the end of his tenure last December 9.

Also, in August, the presidency in a letter signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, queried Mr Fowler over worsening tax collection since 2015.

“We have observed significant variances between the budgeted collections and actual collections for the period 2015 to 2018,” Mr Kyari wrote in the letter, dated August 8, 2019.

The query indicated that in 2015, although the FIRS set a revenue target of N4.7 trillion, it was only able to make N3.7 trillion in the actual collection.

In 2016, 2017 and 2018, the presidency said from target collections of N4.2 trillion, N4.8 trillion and N6.7 trillion respectively, the actual collections were N3.3 trillion, N4.0 trillion and N5.3 trillion, respectively.

In response, Mr Fowler said the query served him did not reflect all the facts.

While he agreed that actual tax collection since the beginning of Mr Buhari’s administration is lower than the 2012-2014 period under former President Goodluck Jonathan, he told the presidency that the FIRS under him has performed better regarding specific non-oil tax types, such as VAT and CIT.

He explained that the general lower collection since 2015 was as a result of oil market crisis which has seen a fall in commodity price compared to the period under Mr Jonathan, and recession “which slowed down economic activities.”

Efforts to reach Mr Fowler to comment on this fresh criticism from his successor were unsuccessful as he did not return his calls nor reply text messages.

hisexcellency34:
I wonder why Fowler is not in EFCC custody with all the atrocities he committed at FIRS

ZombiePUNISHER:
Dont take the man seriously....

Under Buhari... These northerners all claim to be effective in their various duties

Truth is staring at us all... Nothing is working
The country is in ruins .

They are busy employing their tribesmen in all sectors of the economy ...

Never had a region hold on to police... Army... Dss.. Inec... Immigration... Customs.. NSA.. Etc... It has never happened before

Buhari will go someday..
Southerners... Hope you are learning

kelviborji32:
All dis aboki and useless blaming na 5 nd 6. nah so ur oga still blame GEJ wey him enter office. today who better pass for the two. ndiara nor they mind deir business. always blaming deir incompetence on their predecessors and so the circle continues. spits

NockMedia:
Nami is a sentimental bigot. No matter how bad Fowler was during his tenure, he deserves some praise for his efforts. It could have been worse.
Nami should learn to see the good in people and speak well about them, especially his predecessors.

itsme01:
Aboki people and their nonsense talks.. Fowlers record are there for all to see

efighter:


He is our boy nah. He is covered, just as imPatience Jonathan is covered.

efighter:


Everything you think of is tribal. Fowler is our Son, but is it not true that our Son is a crook like every other politician? He is covered, no doubt, because he is our Son but we all know that he is not clean

Staro:


Fowler deserves praises for what effort exactly ?
For superintending over a declining revenue generation since 2015 ?
What is bad in telling him to his face that he failed ?
.

NockMedia:

It could have been worse, trust me.
Instead on focusing on the Negatives, Nami should focus on his own tenure and quit the blame games.
Is it just me, but I feel he is trying to brush aside his potential-future-failure in office by criticizing Fowler, with reckless abandon.

efighter:


Everything you think of is tribal. Fowler is our Son, but is it not true that our Son is a crook like every other politician? He is covered, no doubt, because he is our Son but we all know that he is not clean

blackboy:
Mr Nami, shat up. Stop the lies. You are sounding like APC or PMB in 2015

efighter:


He is our boy nah. He is covered, just as imPatience Jonathan is covered.