Fowler not under investigation – Presidency
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the discrepancies uncovered in tax revenue collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) from 2015-2018 are proofs of corruption in the government of President Muhammed Buhari.
The chief of staff to the president, Mr. Abba Kyari, had in a query dated August 8, 2019 and addressed to the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler wanted to know why tax collections from 2015-2018 were significantly worse than what was collected between 2012 and 2014.
The PDP, in its reaction said some agents in the presidency were desperate to use Fowler as the sacrificial lamb so as to cover their illicit act.
The party further said a critical study of the leaked correspondence from Kyari to Fowler in the wake of the revelations of financial discrepancies at FIRS, totally betrayed the complicity of the “cabal” in the presidency.
“The correspondence also further confirms that our nation and her economy have been in the strangulating grips of a corrupt cabal, who has evidently hijacked the statutory roles and responsibilities of agencies of government, leading to the crippling of our system in the last four years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s misrule.
“It’s appalling that the Buhari Presidency has allowed its cabal a field day to loot our common patrimony, leading to the crushing economic hardship in the land, which is now worsening, with the anti-people ban on FOREX for food by the Buhari administration.
“The stealing of our taxes by APC agents has brought so much anguish to Nigerians, who suffer the brunt of collapsed infrastructure, decay of social amenities and a crippled national economy under President Buhari,” said the party.
Meanwhile, Fowler has replied to the query issued him by the presidency.
He attributed the general lower collection since 2015 to oil market crisis which, according to him, has seen a fall in commodity price compared to the period under President Goodluck Jonathan, and recession “which slowed down economic activities.”
However, he said under the Buhari administration, FIRS under has performed better regarding specific non-oil tax types, such as value added tax and corporate income tax.
Meanwhile, the presidency shed some light on the query issued to Fowler saying the FIRS chairman was not under investigation.
Media aide to the president, Mr. Garba Shehu explained that Kyari’s letter to Fowler “merely raises concerns over the negative run of the tax revenue collection in recent times.”
“Following reports making the rounds in some media outlets, it is necessary to state categorically that the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Babatunde Fowler, is not under any investigation.
“The letter from the chief of staff to the president, Abba Kyari, on which the purported rumour of an investigation is based, merely raises concerns over the negative run of the tax revenue collection in recent times.
“Taking a cue from today’s (Monday) presentation of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential retreat for ministers-designate, federal permanent secretaries and top government functionaries , which dwelt on an ‘Overview of the policies , programmes and project audit committee,’ a body he chaired, projected revenue of government falls behind recurrent expenditure even without having factored in capital expenditure.
“Consequently, it would appear that the country might be heading for a fiscal crisis if urgent steps are not taken to halt the negative trends in target setting and target realisation in tax revenue.”
“Anyone conversant with federal executive council deliberations would have observed that issues bordering on revenue form the number one concern of what Nigeria faces today, and therefore, often take a prime place in discussions of the body.
“It is noteworthy and highly commendable that under this administration, the number of taxable adults has increased from 10 million to 20 million with concerted efforts still on-going to bring a lot more into the tax net,” said Garba in a statement.
