This week, precisely 18th September, it will be 24 months since Zacch Adedeji (PhD) assumed office as the executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). His appointment came at a critical time when Nigeria desperately needed revenue to fund projects that would bring smiles to the faces of Nigerians who invested so much hope in the President Bola Tinubu-led administration by voting him in as the head of state.
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In January 2024, at the first management retreat he presided over, four months after taking office, Adedeji revealed his plan to reform the operations of the revenue agency with a view to removing hurdles in the way of taxpayers and consequently improving tax revenue collection in the country. The plan he revealed was simple: transform the agency’s values to make it taxpayer-centric. This followed a 107 per cent performance over the set goal in 2023, where FIRS collected ₦12.37 trillion, exceeding its target of ₦11.56 trillion. The following year, FIRS exceeded its target of ₦19.4 trillion, realising a total of ₦21.7 trillion. This year, it has a target of ₦25.2 trillion and with the figures showing on the dashboard so far, the agency is on track to surpass it and further break its own record.
The factors responsible for these successes can be traced to the many initiatives that Adedeji has introduced since he took over the affairs of the country’s revenue collection agency. Without being prompted and apparently to boost the morale of staff members of FIRS, Adedeji, in April 2024, after deliberating with his other team members at the management level, announced a 60 per cent increment in the salary of the agency’s workers. This elicited wild jubilation from the entire workforce, including their union leaders, who were surprised due to the unprecedented attitude that Adedeji has shown for workers’ welfare since coming on board. All the other welfare packages are being attended to as and when due – a development that has led to enhanced productivity among the staff members.
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To display its customer-centricity and enhance the ease of doing business, the Service launched a USSD code, *829#, aimed at improving taxpayers’ satisfaction. What this does basically is that it allows taxpayers to access various tax services directly from their mobile phones, without needing internet access. This was in addition to the various improvements done to the agency’s tax administration platform called the TaxProMax. The FIRS also recently introduced the Merchant-Buyer solution, popularly known as e-invoicing. Within the first two weeks of its adoption last month, over 1,000 of the over 5,000 eligible large taxpayers – firms with annual turnover of ₦5 billion and above – have keyed in.
To block leakages occasioned by illicit financial flows (IFFs) and bring more revenue into the coffers from multinational corporations, FIRS under Adedeji recently organised a two-day conference on the issue. This became imperative as Nigeria, according to available data, loses $18 billion annually to IFFs due to profit shifting and aggressive tax avoidance practices by some multinational corporations transacting businesses in Nigeria. How to strengthen compliance mechanisms, enhance beneficial ownership transparency, and leveraging technology to detect and deter tax evasion, trade mispricing, and other illicit outflows, were discussed at the event put together by the Proceeds of Crime Management and Illicit Financial Flows Coordinating Directorate (POCM-IFF) in FIRS.
Close to tackling the above is the National Single Window (NSW) project of the Federal Government. This initiative is domiciled in FIRS. It was observed that bureaucratic processes involved in import and export processes have led to long waiting times at the ports, which is a disincentive to Foreign Direct Investment. NSW was introduced to tackle this challenge. When it enters full operation by the second quarter of 2026, the ultimate goal of the initiative, which is trade facilitation, is expected to be met, while also optimising revenue generation, in addition to enhancing the ease of doing business in the country
Beyond his schedule at FIRS, some assignments naturally fell on his lap and one of such was his leadership of the sub-committee of the Federal Executive Council initiative on Domestic Sale of Crude Oil and Refined Products in Naira. To ensure supply stability and optimise the utilisation of local refining capacity, his committee was tasked with ensuring the sale of crude oil in naira, for domestic refining remains in force. To the glory of God, Nigerians are now seeing the gain. There are no more queues at fuel stations, and prices have almost stabilised, for the first time in many years. Petrol price is also gradually coming down.
The most challenging of all the tasks Adedeji has carried out at FIRS is the tax reform. The four tax bills he introduced were subjected to all forms of drilling. He had to go out to defend the misconception associated with the bills. These new tax laws are a game-changer designed to usher in a new era of fairer taxation and economic revival for our country. For the first time in living memory, low‑income households, small businesses, and renters receive deliberate relief, made real through statutory thresholds and progressive rates, making the tax reforms one of the most pro-Nigerian initiatives ever.
When the new laws go full throttle from next year, there will be immediate relief for the majority of Nigerians who earn significantly low income. They do this through three means. The first means is that the new laws exempt individuals earning ₦800,000 or less per annum from personal income tax, effectively removing payroll tax from the vast majority of wage earners. By virtue of the new laws, Nigerians who earn below the minimum wage are almost certainly exempted from paying tax, thereby increasing the disposable income available to them to meet their daily needs.
Adedeji, who is primarily concerned about businesses thriving, has always echoed the mantra of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which is that FIRS will only tax the fruits and not the seeds. In fact, when he first assumed office, he had to allay fears expressed by corporate organisations that the resolve of FIRS to increase the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio to 18 per cent from 10.86 per cent will lead to increase in taxes. According to him, such resolve would not necessarily lead to increase in taxes or introduction of new taxes, as the President Tinubu-led administration is determined to create a wholesome environment for businesses to flourish. Another area where FIRS, under him, expressed love to Nigerians, was the setting aside of a percentage of its target to support the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
If Adedeji’s leadership of FIRS in just two years can bring all these goodies, the next two years can only bring greater efficiency to the country’s tax administration and consequently immense benefits to businesses and the Federation. The morning, they say, shows the day. There is no way Adedeji would have been able to achieve these lofty things without the support from the President. In fact, President Tinubu made the journey to record increase in tax revenue collection easier by setting right the economic fundamentals, namely removing subsidy from petrol and collapsing the hitherto dual exchange rates. These policies have made more money available for the federal, state and local governments. They smile to the bank monthly due largely to increase in tax revenue collection which is responsible for about 70 per cent of what is shared monthly.
Sikiru Akinola, the Technical Assistant to the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), writes from Abuja.
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