A group, the Southwest Unity Forum (SUF), has sounded the alarm bell on the implications of the smear campaign to remove the chairperson of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr. Zacch Adedeji.
The group’s coordinator, Hon. Matthew Oyedokun, describes the action as “a reckless and coordinated political witch-hunt”. The group said those behind the agitation are “desperate to derail Nigeria’s progress for selfish political gain.”
“The recent media noise and concocted allegations being circulated are a classic smear tactic — devoid of facts, lacking credibility, and engineered to intimidate a performing public servant into silence.
“It is shameful that individuals who have benefited from Nigeria’s dysfunction are now masquerading as champions of accountability simply because their interests are no longer served,” the statement reads.
It adds: “The FIRS has embarked on bold reforms, strategic enforcement, and aggressive modernization that have already begun to reduce leakages, block revenue wastage, and expand the country’s non-oil tax base. These reforms, it noted, are precisely what certain powerful actors fear, as they threaten entrenched interests.
“The sudden desperation to remove the FIRS Chairman at a time when reforms are gaining traction is not a coincidence — it is sabotage, pure and simple. It is an attempt to drag Nigeria backwards so a few can continue to feed fat on a broken system.”
The group claims that civil society organisations, who hitherto smeared Adedeji, have recanted their unfounded allegations and apologized for their actions.
It adds: “The attackers of Dr. Zacch Adedeji are not fighting for the nation; they are fighting for their pockets. Nigeria cannot afford to bend to the whims of those who profit when the system collapses,” the statement added.
The Southwest Unity Forum says it has “total confidence in Dr. Adedeji” for being “a courageous reformist whose loyalty is to Nigeria, not to cabals or political godfathers.”
“We stand firm. We will not allow a handful of desperate power merchants to destabilize our institutions or derail national progress. Nigeria deserves better — and we will defend those who work for the nation, not themselves,” it adds.
