The chief revenue officer of the Federation and Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr. Zacch Adedeji, has been trending since the beginning of this year. And for the right reasons, too. Historically, the tax man has not always been the beloved of the people. Not even in the Western world is the revenue collector always welcomed. But in Nigeria, Adedeji, a first-class accounting graduate, with a boyish visage at 47, has bucked the trend. He has become the toast of the people.
One of such endearments came from the Joint Finance Committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives. On Wednesday, January 15, the Committee commended Adedeji, for leading the agency to surpass its 2024 revenue collection target of N19.4 trillion. By the end of 2024, FIRS had netted a whopping N21.6 trillion in revenue for that year, surpassing its target by over N2.2 trillion.
This joint committee is not always a place public officers go to and come out smiling. It’s a truth-telling committee especially so because of its primary duty: oversight of financial matters especially revenue collection. The atmosphere before the committee gets more febrile these days of dwindling oil and gas revenue. Some public officers have appeared before the committee only to be scolded, deprecated and strongly rebuked for their low revenue drive, tardiness of their ledger and obvious lack of transparency and fiscal frugality. Here, Adedeji ticked all the boxes to the acclamation of the committee members, who not only lauded his appetite for hard work evidenced by huge revenue collection but also his desire to maintain a high standard of integrity in the management of public finance.
Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon Saidu Musa Abdullahi, described Adedeji’s sterling performance at FIRS as unprecedented: “The feat attained by FIRS on revenue collection or generation in 2024 was unprecedented and a very wonderful one, worthy of commendation. That you surpassed the target set for the agency in the 2024 Appropriation Act, from N19.4 trillion to N21.6 trillion, is very cheering and encouraging,” an elated Abdullahi said.
Encomium for Adedeji also came from Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas (APC, Delta South) who not only applauded Adedeji and his team but also charged them to deepen the collection process through strategic reforms. The senator pointed to an emerging global trend where countries around the world are turning to taxes to shore up their revenue base. The Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Sani Musa, could not pass off the opportunity to compliment Adedeji for being different and setting a new path of openness, innovation and engagement in the nation’s revenue-collection ecosystem.
Those close to him say they are surprised by his soar-away success in office. He came prepared. With his favourite mantra, “we tax the fruit, not the seed” and “we tax prosperity, not poverty,” he changed the concept of revenue collection as Nigerians knew it. Payment of tax is not punitive but an obligation. And the drive for revenue collection should have a human face. It should promote productivity, and not kill production. This has guided his work ethics and philosophy at FIRS and he never ceases to insist that taxation should be fair and justifiable. He believes that both the revenue collector and the payer should meet at the intersection of fairness, humaneness and evenhandedness. This gives no room for coercion and compulsion. And it has paid off as depicted in the financial results since he assumed office.
In 2023, in which he could only be assessed on the last quarter performance, FIRS exceeded its revenue target of N11.55 trillion. It collected N12.36 trillion. But by the first quarter of 2024, the mojo of Adedeji was already in full plume. The Service set a new record in the first quarter of 2024 with N3.94 trillion, representing a 56% increase from same period of the previous year. This streak of superlative performance was sustained all through 2024, culminating in what is now described as “unprecedented”, a record N21.6 trillion. This performance has earned the confidence of the joint committee. They are confident that the FIRS will meet, some say even exceed, the 2025 revenue target of N25 trillion.
President Bola Tinubu has pledged Renewed Hope as the beacon that will drive his administration for the good of the nation. It is broken down into components including guaranteeing internal security, job creation, improved investment environment, macro-economic stability, human capital development, poverty alleviation, and social security. To achieve this, the President will need to increase the nation’s revenue base, especially by innovatively widening the frontiers of non-oil revenue. Taxation is a critical tool to shore up the national revenue till. And this is why the effort of Adedeji is seen by many as a fitting complement of the President’s vision. The revenue man has revved the engine of Renewed Hope to the approbation of many Nigerians including the National Assembly.
This feat is not an accident. It is the product of critical thinking, strategic innovation and courage to implement a blueprint. There is, therefore, the need to interrogate the process that created the atmosphere of success at FIRS. Productivity happens when human capital engage technology through the right process and at the right mix. This is exactly what Adedeji evolved at FIRS. A right mix of human capital and technology.
Adedeji integrated nine new modules into the TaxProMax system with the infusion of tech. With this, he achieved the automation of over 80% of processes previously manual-driven. This created a ‘One Stop Shop’ platform for all tax payers, big or small. The result is a fast, efficient, transparent and less obtrusive tax system that allows for flexibility and fairness for both the tax payer and the collector.
He focused on the advancement of human capital to cope with the changing dynamics of revenue collection and management in a digital age. He ensured that FIRS staffers are upskilled in relevant aspects of their jobs while also minding their welfare. He did not stop there. To ensure good corporate governance within the system, he launched the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) in partnership with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC). This has further promoted integrity and effective monitoring of the processes. He is at the vanguard of the National Single Window Project (NSWP), an innovation that will transform Nigeria’s trade sector with a unified digital platform for both import and export transactions.
His contribution in the ongoing tax reforms has been legendary. Adedeji has shown capacity, empathy, courage and competence. Surely, he deserves the laudatory symphony from the National Assembly and across the nation. He has renewed the hope of many.
Etuk, public policy analyst, writes from Abuja
