JUST IN: Senate approves Zak Adedeji’s nomination as FIRS Chairman

The Senate has approved the nomination of Zak Adedeji as Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

Adedeji appeared before the upper chamber for his screening on Tuesday, where he discussed his plans to improve the nation’s revenue.

Adedeji raised concern over the dearth of information in the oil and gas sector.

He promised that most of the leakages would be halted. According to him, the core problem in the country is that of proper data, adding that developing data upon which decisions will be made is fundamental.

According to him, it will enable sufficient information on the exact number of vessels of crude brought into the county and the concomitant tax. “The data would be used to identify those in affluence who pay insufficient tax, the FIRS boss added,” he said.

Adedeji also vowed to centralize the identification system in Nigeria and advance the nation’s data mining capacity.

Recall that his confirmation is coming over a month after President Bola Tinubu appointed him, his Special Adviser on Revenue, as the new FIRS.

Tinubu had directed the erstwhile FIRS Chairman Muhammad Nami to proceed on three months of pre-retirement leave.

The President thereafter wrote to the Senate for expeditious consideration of the confirmation of Zak’s appointment. Tinubu thereafter wrote to the Senate President Senator Godswill Akpabio to confirm the nomination.