ADVERTISEMENT
  • The Membership Club
  • PT Hausa
  • About Us
  • Advert Rates
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Premium Times Nigeria
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Features
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Markets
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Features
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Markets
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
Premium Times Nigeria
BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Babatunde Fowler, FIRS Chairman

Babatunde Fowler, former FIRS Chairman (Photo Credit: NEWSTAGE)

Fowler speaks on FIRS handover controversy as workers threaten showdown

byBassey Udo
December 11, 2019
3 min read

The immediate past Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Tunde Fowler, said he did nothing wrong in handing over the management of the tax revenue agency to the Coordinating Director, Domestic Taxes Group, Abiodun Aina.

Mr Fowler spoke in response to a PREMIUM TIMES enquiry on Wednesday, following threats by some workers of the tax agency.

He said he followed due process in taking the decision after he was relieved of his position on Monday.

“All I will say is that the due process was followed in appointing him (Aina) as a Coordinating Director,” the former FIRS boss said in a text message in response to PREMIUM TIMES enquiries on Wednesday.

Following Monday’s appointment of Muhammad Nami as the new Executive Chairman of FIRS, the presidency directed the mantle of leadership to be handed over to the “most senior Director in the service” until Mr Nami is confirmed by the Senate.

In compliance of the presidential directive, Mr Fowler on Monday evening handed over to Mr Aina after thanking President Muhammadu Buhari for the privilege he gave him to serve in that capacity.

However, barely 24 hours after the handing over ceremony, a group which goes by the name, Joint Union Council, FIRS Unit, on Tuesday accused Mr Aina of not possessing the basic qualification to occupy the office.

The group also accused Mr Fowler of violating the presidential directive to hand over power to the most senior director of FIRS pending the confirmation of the new chairman’s appointment by the National Assembly and assumption of office.

In a petition signed by the chairman of the JUC, Okere Samson; the vice-chairman, Idris Abdulrahaman; Secretary, Lekwot Thomas, and 14 other members, the group highlighted why Mr Aina’s appointment should not stand.

RelatedNews

EXCLUSIVE: How my ex-girlfriend tried to extort $5 million from me– Dangote

Police arrest two suspected fraudsters in Akwa Ibom

FG approves N204 million for web-based highway management system

Borno governor welcomes newly appointed service chiefs

The group faulted Mr Aina’s selection on the grounds that it was not in accordance with the presidential directive that the seniority list in the FIRS hierarchy should be followed.

Also, the group gave a 72 hours ultimatum that if by the close of work on Friday, December 13, 2019, no action is taken to meet their demand by reversing Mr Aina’s selection, they will no longer guarantee further industrial harmony in the system.

In the petition, the group said their grouse is that running the affairs of the FIRS cannot be handed over to a director who is neither competent nor qualified to occupy the position.

Dangote adbanner 728x90_2 (1)

Copies of the petition were sent to the supervising Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria and his counterpart in the Nigeria Civil Service Union.

The petition read: “Please refer to the Presidential Directive on the appointment of the new FIRS Chairman, wherein there was a presidential directive for hand over to the most senior Director in the service.

“The attention of the Joint Union Council of FIRS has been drawn to the handover of the Chairmanship of FIRS on acting capacity to Mr. Biodun Aina on Monday, 9th December 2019. This was a clear departure from the Presidential Directive on the handing over, as he is not the most senior Director.

“Mr. Abiodun Aina in the first instance does not have the basic qualification/requirement (HND or BSc) to be employed into the service.

“Secondly, his appointment to the position of Coordinating Director was against the provision of section 2.19 of FIRS Human Resources Policies and Processes.”

The group quoted the provision on page 24 to read: “Appointment to the post of Coordinating Director shall be made by the Board (of FIRS) on the recommendation of the Executive Chairman. The appointment shall be open to all confirmed Directors of the Service and it shall be competitive based on experience, competence and seniority.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The group said in its petition that Mr Aina was never a director in the service, rather a Senior Special Assistant to the immediate past Chairman of the FIRS.

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the immediate past Chairman of FIRS, Tunde Fowler, on Wednesday for his reaction to the allegation, he responded with a short text message.

“Good morning I have left the system. But all I will say is that the due process was followed in appointing him (Aina) as a Coordinating Director. To check his qualifications, please google it. It’s in the public domain. Thank you and God bless,” Mr Fowler wrote in the text message

Also, the spokesperson of the FIRS, Wahab Gbadamosi, asked for some time to make contacts with the relevant parties for details on the issue before sending his response.

However, documents from the Federal Ministry of Finance seen by our reporter on Wednesday showed that the former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, appointed Mr Aina as the Coordinating Director of FIRS on May 15, 2017, vide a formal letter No. HMF/FMF/FIRS/CD/1/2017.

In the letter, the former minister, who exercised the powers of the Board of FIRS through her office, explained that Mr Aina’s appointment was “in accordance with the powers delegated to the Honourable Minister of Finance, under Section 60 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2017.”

  • WhatsApp
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Telegram
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pocket

Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility

Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.

For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.

By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.

Donate


TEXT AD: To advertise here . Call Willie +2347088095401...


JOIN THE CONVERSATION

  • Disqus (30)
premiumtimes



PT Mag Campaign AD

Previous Post

Fresh Crisis rocks Presidency as Aisha Buhari attacks Mamman Daura, Garba Shehu

Next Post

How pipeline explosion damaged Ondo community, destroyed residents’ livelihood

Bassey Udo

Bassey Udo

Bassey Udo is PREMIUM TIMES' Business & Economy Editor. He has covered finance, energy, oil, gas & extractive industries for over a decade. He is a winner of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Journalism, and the Thomson Reuters Foundation (Wealth of Nations) Award for Business Reporting. Bassey is an alumnus of the U.S. International Visitors Leadership Programme. Twitter: @ba_udo

More News

The logo of the Nigerian Stock Exchange is pictured in Lagos, Nigeria November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

NSE: Telecom gains help sustain Nigerian stocks’ bull run

January 27, 2021
Mohammed Barkindo [PHOTO CREDIT: @OPECSecretariat]

Renewables great but won’t get close to overtaking oil & gas soon – OPEC

January 27, 2021
Naira-Dollar

Naira performance mixed as foreign reserves rise

January 27, 2021
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)

Nigeria’s VAT increases by N29.98bn in fourth quarter of 2020

January 27, 2021
President Muhammadu Buhari and the new service chiefs. [PHOTO CREDIT: Twitter handle of Buhari]

Insecurity: Nigeria in ‘state of emergency’, Buhari tells new service chiefs

January 27, 2021
Africa's richest man, Alike Dangote

EXCLUSIVE: How my ex-girlfriend tried to extort $5 million from me– Dangote

January 27, 2021
Next Post
Mrs Oluwadaisi Ogunne and her children fixing a damaged bridge. Image: Aderemi Ojekunle

How pipeline explosion damaged Ondo community, destroyed residents' livelihood

Buhari as military president

Major General Muhammadu Buhari: Presidency reacts to Punch Newspaper

Discussion about this post

Search

#EndSARS: Latest Updates




Polaris Bank


JAIZ Ad


NITDA Ad




Subscribe to News via Email

Enter your email address and receive notifications of news by email.

Join 1,605,924 other subscribers.

Advertisement






netherland biz school Advert

Zenith Advert
ADVERTISEMENT

Our Digital Network

  • PT Hausa
  • Election Centre
  • Human Trafficking Investigation
  • Centre for Investigative Journalism
  • National Conference
  • Press Attack Tracker
  • PT Academy
  • Dubawa
  • LeaksNG
  • Campus Reporter

Resources

  • Oil & Gas Facts
  • List of Universities in Nigeria
  • LIST: Federal Unity Colleges in Nigeria
  • NYSC Orientation Camps in Nigeria
  • Nigeria’s Federal/States’ Budgets since 2005
  • Malabu Scandal Thread
  • World Cup 2018
  • Panama Papers Game
  • Our Digital Network
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Projects
  • Data & Infographics
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Health
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Features
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Markets
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • Parliament Watch
    • AGAHRIN
  • Opinion
  • PT Hausa
  • The Membership Club
  • Dubawa
    • Dubawa NG
  • About Us
  • Advert Rates
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Store
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

Our website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.