As FIRS under Nami jumpstarts the economy

trillion in tax collection within a period of one year in a proper perspective, it is pertinent to take a cursory look at the following four years figures of tax collection in the country and they clearly show how the Nami-led FIRS has fared under an inclement economic weather.

In 2019, the agency realized N5.32 trillion; in 2020 the agency netted N4.9 trillion, this was the year that the COVID pandemic dealt a hard blow to the global economy; in 2021, the Service collected N6.45trillion, which was as at then the highest ever collected and over 100% of its collection target; while in 2022, it achieved the jaw-breaking highest tax collection ever of N10.1trillion.

Perhaps, one interesting aspect of this report is the increase in non-oil collection achieved by the Service. Non-oil collection stood at N5.96 trillion, while oil collection was N4.09trillion.

Before now Nigeria was helplessly dependent on oil revenues, and the reality is that the country was in no advantageous position to control or influence the impact of changes of oil prices on our national economy.

The implication of these increases is that the FIRS has innovatively widened the scope of collectible taxes in Nigeria as well as applied an aggressive tax drive, and the result is that while oil prices were staggering across the globe, and to the detriment of oil-producing countries including Nigeria, the FIRS provided the financial succor that has helped Nigeria’s economy to withstand the debilitating impact and the federal government placed in a position to carry out its mandate of rendering service to the people.