CITN URGES FG TO APPOINT COMPETENT HAND AS FIRS CHAIRMAN

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CITN urges FG to appoint competent hand as FIRS chairman
On May 18, 2012 · In Business

The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN)  has urged the Federal Government to appoint a competent hand to head the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

The President of the institute, Mr Sunday Jegede, gave the advice in Lagos following the retirement of Mrs Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, as the chairman on April 9. Jegede advised that a tax professional with proven records should be appointed as chairman of the FIRS

According to Jegede, the advice became necessary because FIRS is vital to the transformation agenda of the government. He said that the headship of a revenue body is a sensitive post which should not be manned by a mediocre. Jegede said that the usefulness of taxation as a tool for economic transformation could not be over emphasised, particularly when the resources needed for development projects were inadequate.

“It is necessary to reduce, if not eradicate, our over-dependence on oil revenue, as the country’s dependence on oil revenue has worsened. So there is the need to appoint a tax professional with passion to grow the country through formidable tax system. As far as the appointment of FIRS chairman is concerned, the law says someone with relevant qualifications and the only relevant qualification to taxation is from CITN.

“If you go to Ministry of Justice, who will be Minister of Justice is a lawyer, you can never put an accountant or engineer there. So, the only relevant qualification to FIRS chairmanship is someone who knows the terrain and intricacies of tax system. Nigeria should borrow a leaf from developed countries,” he said.

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