Adedeji said FIRS will develop data that can be used to identify affluent Nigerians, who pay insufficient tax.
The Senate has screened and confirmed the appointment of Zach Adedeji as Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The confirmation comes two weeks after President Bola Tinubu appointed his former Special Adviser on Revenue, Adedeji, as the new FIRS Chairman.
Shortly after the nominee’s presentation, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) in supporting the nomination of Zach Adedeji, raised an area of concern in the nominee’s resume.
He said, “What is not captured in his CV is character, patriotism, and commitment that as a young person, he can do better than the elderly ones. I also want to commend the President for nominating young people under his administration.”
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The Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Mohammed Ndume (APC, Borno South) also raised concerns on the issues around taxation and how the new chairman intends to address this.
“Tax is the major source of revenue generation. Now, Nigeria is depending on tax just like the property and communication service tax. How are you going to address this matter?” he asked.
Responding, Adedeji attributed the primary issue facing the nation to a lack of accurate data and stressed the importance of gathering information before making judgments.
He claimed it would provide adequate information on the precise number of vessels carrying oil coming into the country.
He said, “What we need is data on the total leverage. We need to develop the data so that it can be used to identify those in affluence who pay insufficient tax.
We will improve our data mining capacity and we will centralise the identification system in Nigeria using the NIN so that when we run the report, we can now ask questions where necessary. We will make good use of data,” he added.
