Ex-FIRS boss Nami admits N11bn approval, says total N16bn
Muhammad Nami, the immediate past chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), has admitted to granting approval for payment of over N11bn to consultants, and as estacodes for self and others.
TheCornet had reported an online newspaper as saying that Nami took the action two days after President Bola Tinubu directed him to proceed on terminal leave. In his response, Nami said the approval predated the announcement of his sack. Nami accused the newspaper of sensationalisation, and said he had already included the issue in the handover note to his successor, Zacch Adedeji.
He said, “It is important to note that no payment was made by the Service after the announcement of my pre-retirement leave …an approval for payment in the Service is one step of a journey to payment.
“It is the custom that when a new Executive Chairman resumes office, he would review, validate and make final authorisation before any payments can be made.
“It is important to note for the record that all decisions reached and extant liabilities/ commitments of the Service during my stay in office are contained in the handover notes I made available to my successor, Mr. Zacch Adedeji. He is fully briefed on everything.”
Nami stated that the approvals were N16 billion in total.
“The N5 billion paid to Joint Tax Board was paid to fund the activities of Presidential Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy Reforms two months before I left office.
It was paid after we received a letter to that effect from the office of Mr. President signed by Zacch Adedeji himself,” he said.
READ ALSO:N16bn approval: Ex-FIRS boss did “the needful” to successor Zacch Adedeji
“The report maliciously attempts to portray a picture that I hurriedly left the country on September 16th after these so called suspicious approvals were made.
“Again, nothing can be further from the truth. If I traveled out of the country on the 16th of September, how then did I attend the handover ceremony with Mr. Zacch on the afternoon of Monday 18th September 2023?
“That handover ceremony was covered by the media, and can be cross-checked.”
