Reps ask FIRS Chief to resign for shunning hearing on revenue generation

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts on Wednesday asked the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Muhammad Nami, to resign from office after he failed to honour the lawmakers’ invitation to an investigative hearing on revenue generation by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the country.

The Oluwole Oke-led committee is probing the MDAs over alleged revenue leakages following a report by the Office of the Auditor- General of the Federation.

Nani was summoned by the committee to explain the non-payment of taxes to the government by some foreign companies – Indorama Petrochemical, Indorama fertilizer and Petrochemical Limited and OIS Indorama Port Limited.

The FIRS chief was represented at the hearing by an official of the agency, Olusegun Olatunji.

Olatunji, who addressed the lawmakers, attributed Nami’s absence at the meeting to the late arrival of the invitation letter from the committee.

In his response, the committee chairman ordered the FIRS to appear before the lawmakers by 10:00 a.m. on Thursday.

He said: “This parliament is the symbol of democracy. We are the representatives of the people. If President Muhammadu Buhari can cause an appearance before the parliament whenever the need be, why not his appointees? Enough is enough! If the FIRS boss cannot perform his constitutional responsibilities again, he should turn in his letter of resignation immediately.

“Is this how he wants to pay back Mr. President who gave him the appointment? The nation is losing billions of naira from tax evasion on a daily basis, and the man in charge who is expected to come to the parliament so that a solution can be found on how to stop the ugly development has refused to honour the invitation.

“Based on the seriousness of this, the FIRS boss is to cause a physical appearance before this honourable committee by 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. We are determined to stop this nonsense. The nation is bleeding.”

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