Tinubu Govt Denies Plan To Merge FIRS, NNPCL, Customs, Others

The federal government says contrary to some reports in the media, it has no plan to merge or collapse revenue-generating agencies.

The special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on revenue, Zacchaeus Adedeji made this known, stating that what the government plans to do is a harmonization or integration.

He however clarified that the harmonization or integration process does not mean the agencies would be merged, but rather, on a single platform, the government can monitor what is happening in all the revenue-collecting agencies while they remain individually unique entities.

Mr. Adedeji made the clarification during an interview on Channels TV.

“We are not collapsing. The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited will be NNPC because it is limited. FIRS will be (on its own) but the collection of all revenues will be technologically driven by data,” he said.

Adedeji added that with the steps set to be taken by the government, Nigeria’s total annual revenue which is currently below N15 trillion will be increased without imposing extra taxes on citizens of the country.

“The current administration needs to increase the nation’s revenue not through taxation but by addressing indiscipline in national spending and technologically monitoring revenue collection when agencies like Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and Nigerian Customs are harmonized.

“The law is very clear as to how to collect revenue. In Section 162 of the Nigerian Constitution, it is clearly stated that there shall be an account called the Federation Account and all government revenues must be put into that account.

“When we talk about harmonization, we are just saying the integration of all collecting agencies, that on one platform, we can know what is happening in Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Customs, and the FIRS,” he said.