Nigerian govt to harmonise FIRS, NIMASA, other revenue agencies

The Federal Government will harmonise all revenue-collecting agencies for effective performance in the country.

The Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, Zach Adedeji, stated this in a Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today, on Monday.

He said the government would double the country’s total annual revenue which is currently below N15trn by deepening the nation’s revenue collection system.

The presidential aide stressed that the current administration was fully prepared to address the country’s revenue problem through fiscal discipline and harmonisation of revenue channels.

Adedeji revealed that the government would not collapse revenue-generating bodies like the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and the Nigeria Customs Service in a bid to achieve its objectives.

He said President Bola Tinubu has already approved the harmonisation of all the revenue-collecting agencies in the country.

READ ALSO: FIRS to start taxing informal sector, track 40 million market traders’ revenues

He said: “The law is very clear as to how to collect revenue. In Section 162 of the Nigerian Constitution, it is clearly stated that there shall be an account called the Federation Account and all government revenue must be put into that account.

“When we talk about harmonisation, we are just saying the integration of all collecting agencies, that on one platform, we can know what is happening in NIMASA, NPA, NCC, Customs, Federal Inland Revenue (Service). We will make use of technology to know everything going on in real time.

“We are not collapsing. NNPC will be NNPC because it is limited, Federal Inland Revenue (Service) will be but the collection of all revenue will be technologically driven by data. Why there seems to be a government within a government is because of the law because there is no real law that specifies what they should do.”

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