Citizen right to demand accountability subject to tax compliance – FIRS Chairman, Nami

By Adeleye Kunle

The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Nami has said it is the moral right of citizens to demand accountability from government on what their taxes have been used for.

Nami, who made this known during the unveiling of the FIRS Service Charter on Tuesday in Abuja, said the right to make such a demand is subject to compliance with tax obligations.

Speaking at one of the events hosted by the service in commemoration of the 2022 Global Customer Service Week, he called on citizens to be fair to the government by paying their taxes, noting that this was the pathway to the country’s civilisation.

“Nigerians should be fair to the government. We must start to trust the Government. Nigerians must also understand that tax is a statutory responsibility and they should pay their taxes.”

Nami further stated that “Globally, tax is a social contract between government and its citizens. It is when citizens fulfil their obligations that they have moral rights to ask the government to account for taxes they pay.

“Nigerians are expected to understand that globally citizens pay for their own civilization; as most infrastructures and privileges in advanced countries are made possible by the revenue generated through the taxes their citizens pay to the government.”

The Chairman also appealed to governments at the Federal, State and Local Government levels to give value to citizens for the money they pay as taxes.

On the occasion of the Global Customer Service Week, Mr. Nami noted that the Week aligned with one of his four-cardinal objectives for the FIRS, that is making the Service a “Customer-centric institution”. He noted that the FIRS had taken steps and actions to institutionalise effective and efficient service delivery to all its stakeholders.

“For us at the FIRS, the essence of the customer service week is to further promote the culture of quality service delivery and team spirit among staff and reward them for their commitment to the mission and vision of the Service.

“The importance of efficient service cannot be relegated in a service-oriented institution like ours as quality service to our taxpayers and customers in general lead to increase in tax compliance and revenue generation, which is integral to nation building.