The Federal Government Of Nigeria has disclosed that the number of tax paying adults has doubled under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

This information is contained in a statement (which you can read below) Published by Senior Assistant to the president on media, Garba Shehu.

Mallam Shehu was reacting to the purported query of the Chairman of the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Babatunde Fowler.

While stating that the FIRS boss was not under investigation, the presidency praised the service, under the watchful guide of Mr. Fowler for recording notable and commendable improvement – which culmunated to the increase of tax payers from 10 million to 20million adults.

“It is noteworthy and highly commendable that under this administration, the number of taxable adults has increased from 10 million to 20 million with concerted” The statement reads.

Read full statement below.

Following reports making the rounds in some media outlets, it is necessary to state categorically that the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Babatunde Fowler, is not under any investigation.
The letter from the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, on which the purported rumour of an investigation is based, merely raises concerns over the negative run of the tax revenue collection in recent times.
Taking a cue from today’s (Monday) presentation of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Retreat for Ministers-Designate, Federal Permanent Secretaries and Top Government Functionaries , which dwelt on an ‘Overview of the Policies , Programmes and Project Audit Committee,’ a body he chaired, projected revenue of government falls behind recurrent expenditure even without having factored in capital expenditure.

Consequently, it would appear that the country might be heading for a fiscal crisis if urgent steps are not taken to halt the negative trends in target setting and target realisation in tax revenue.
Anyone conversant with Federal Executive Council deliberations would have observed that issues bordering on revenue form the number one concern of what Nigeria faces today, and therefore, often take a prime place in discussions of the body. It is noteworthy and highly commendable that under this administration, the number of taxable adults has increased from 10 million to 20 million with concerted efforts still on-going to bring a lot more into the tax net.
Garba Shehu Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity) August 19, 2019