‘‘Mr. Stanley Okwara who obviously was sponsored, has ignorantly taken Mr. Fowler to court, asking for his sack. His action is politically motivated, a case of ‘‘let me do it and get paid or compensated, whether it works or not,” it does not seem to be for the overall interest of Nigerians, and such action is seen as selfish’’

“The law is made for humanity, not the other way round” this has been the leadership disposition of Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari, and it has yielded positive results in strengthening his governance. Some of the laws are amended selfishly in favor of the microscopic few of vested interest against the majority and the collective interest, and as such, the need for consistent re-amendment of our existing laws is very sacrosanct in moving the nation forward, to avoid stagnation due to the 21st century challenges. The bid to break new ground to meet up with the realities of time in the quest of achieving the Millennium Development Goals is very necessary. Therefore, it is expected that the millennium approach must be followed in all of our engagements towards achieving the desired expectations.

I salute the administrative leadership of Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari and his pragmatic leadership, with respect to sensitive agencies and the need for status quo to remain in those agencies in order to achieve targeted positive goals which will further strengthen governance in Nigeria. Discretionally allowing them to remain in office after expiration goes to show Mr. President’s large heart, because he enjoys their working relationship and their service to the nation for the period of their tenure, and he has the power as the Commander-in-Chief of the Arm Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to appoint or extend the tenure of any of his appointees, in case Mr. Stanley has forgotten the powers of the President of Nigeria.

“Federal Inland Revenue Service under the amiable leadership of Mr. Tunde Fowler has generated the highest revenue since the creation of FIRS, to the credit of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, with projection of a higher revenue generation in the next six months, with well-structured tax collection mechanisms emplaced by the chairman in order to shoot up revenue in the next two quarters, between the last quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020. Will it not be a misfit at the present crescendo of tax remittance to federal government, to change hands in an agency such as FIRS? FIRS one of the strongest pillars of the nation’s economy, holding to its sensitivity to the overall economic growth of the country, changing chairman may alter the systematic tax calculation collection mechanisms already drafted out towards harnessing more revenue for the government in the preceding months as structured”

Mr. Fowler has displayed a very high sense of responsibility in handling tax management, with unprecedented successes to show for his in-depth tax management and revenue generation, allowing him to continue his good work while he remains faithful, is at the discretion of Mr. President, not the court, except Mr. Stanley wants the court to dictate for the President with regards to appointing his lieutenants, as to what he should do and not do. Allowing Mr. Fowler to remain in office shows that Mr. President still needs Mr. Fowler’s good service to our Fatherland, he is geared towards the sustainability of existing tax frameworks within the FIRS to harvest more tax revenue for the federal government. Mr. Stanley should not jump before the gun.

The chronicles of the unprecedented achievements of Mr. Tunde Fowler is practically seen in our day to day tax engagements as follow;
 Developed and deployed 6 e-solutions to ease tax payment and make payment of taxes, easy, convenient, anytime, anywhere, 24/7. Taxpayers are also allowed to file at the FIRS offices nearest to them;

 Extended automation of VAT-Auto collects from aviation to other key sectors like oil and gas, banks and other financial institutions, telecommunication, power, and tourism sectors;

 Implemented a tax amnesty programme that waived interest and penalty of defaulting taxpayers which netted N68 billion;

 Co-implemented the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), co-initiated with the Federal Ministry of Finance and received over 5000 applications under the scheme which resulted in a voluntary declaration of over N92 billion liability with over N34.63 billion paid so far by companies
 Strengthened the tax audit function of FIRS that led to the recovery of over N35.65 billion;

 Improved 22% on the collection of 2016 (N3.3trillion) by collecting N4.03 trillion in 2017 even with the crude oil price hovering at an average of $50 per barrel. By August 2018 FIRS has collected N1 trillion, above its 2017 collection. By October 2018 FIRS has collected N4. 3 trillion;

 Received several awards, including the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) adjudged FIRS online Stamp Duty portal as the best innovation in tax administration on the African continent in 2016;

 In 2016, the FIRS Chairman was named as ATAF Chairman, he was re-elected ATAF Chairman in 2018;

 In 2017, Fowler’s contributions to tax administration and development contributed to his appointment by the United Nations as a member of the International Committee of Tax Experts. Mr. Fowler, the Executive Chairman, FIRS, is the committee’s first Vice-Chairman.

To further set the record straight the FIRS did not have substantive chairman since the departure of Ifueko Omogiu-Okauru in 2012, for three years, a very sensitive agency such as FIRS, was not headed by a substantive Chairman but an acting chairman. Hell did not break loose under the then President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Where was Mr. Stanley and how many court did he approach to ask for the sack of the then acting chairman, being that there was no substantive chairman as at then? Mr. Stanley Okwara’s action is occasioned and orchestrated by the opposition, using him to throw a spanner in the works of Federal Inland Revenue Service, and as such, he should be ignored. He is seen from his action, as serving his masters’ vested interest somewhere, and should hold his peace and allow Mr. President take his time to do the needful, and stop undue and unnecessary pressure, not to heat up the polity, as Mr. fowler remains committed to the assignment given to him by his boss, Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It is against this background that we call on Mr. Stanley Okwara to retrieve his steps and not dwell too much in ignorance by continuing the court process, it will be an effort in futility and waste of resources. It is better he finds something more useful to do rather than waste his precious time beating the air.

We use this medium to a pass vote of confidence in Mr. Tunde Fowler for assiduously repositioning the Federal Inland Revenue Service to meet up with the international best practices, and we urge him to remain steadfast to the national assignment given him, to further boost the nation’s economy, and we also call on Mr. President’s usual magnanimity, to regularize Mr. Tunde Fowler’s second term in office, in order to silence the accusers of his administration permanently on the above matter referred.

Ambassador Agbonkpolor Aironmwanbor Splendour
Executive Director
Initiative for Leadership and Economic Watch in Nigeria