The Senate on Tuesday approved the nomination of Mr Zak Adedeji as Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
When Adedeji appeared before the upper chamber for his screening on Tuesday, he outlined his strategies for enhancing the nation’s revenue by addressing the lack of information within the oil and gas sector.
He pledged to staunch most of the revenue leakages. He emphasized that the primary issue in the country is the absence of accurate data and stressed the importance of developing a data foundation for informed decision-making.
He further explained that having such data would enable precise tracking of the number of crude oil vessels entering the country and the associated tax revenues. This data would be instrumental in identifying individuals of means who are paying insufficient taxes, as highlighted by the FIRS chief.
Adedeji also pledged to centralize the identification system in Nigeria and enhance the country’s data mining capabilities.
His confirmation occurred more than a month after President Bola Tinubu appointed him as the new FIRS Chairman, in his role as the Special Adviser on Revenue. Prior to this, Tinubu had instructed the former FIRS Chairman, Muhammad Nami, to take a three-month pre-retirement leave.
Subsequently, the President submitted a request to the Senate for the swift consideration of Zak’s appointment confirmation. Following this, Tinubu corresponded with the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, urging the confirmation of the nomination.