How Ex-FIRS Boss, Nami, Reacted to Alleged Last-minute Approval of Multi-Billion Naira Expenses

Former Executive Chairman of FIRS, Muhammad Nami

How Ex-FIRS Boss, Nami, Reacted to Alleged Last-minute Approval of Multi-Billion Naira Expenses

The immediate-past chair of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Muhammad Nami, has reacted to a media report accusing him of last minute “suspiciously approval of billions of Naira and Millions of Dollars” to several contractors and consultants.

Mr Nami denied the report in a series of tweets on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.

In his tweet titled, “My rejoinder to the Cable Story: Ex-FIRS Boss Nami Approved N11bn ‘Suspicious’ Payments After His Exit,” the former FIRS boss lamented that the story was sensationally written with “mischief” and that the newspaper’s report took the ordinary events of his work out of context with the intent to tarnish his image.

The Cable newspaper had reported that Mr Nami approved N11 billion suspicious payment to several contractors and consultants after his exit from office.

According to the newspaper, the former FIRS boss approved N5,628,496,823.04, $863,293.00 and £8,780 for express payment to 196 beneficiaries — all in one day.

It further stated that Mr Nami approved the payment of N1,409,950,625.00 to 807 nominees for a ‘Business Case for Strategic Leadership’ retreat which is billed to take place in November, and that N250,325,000 was greenlit for FIRS Data Mining Management and Analytics in Taxation Course.

According to the published report, Mr Nami also approved N221,311,840.00 to be paid to Odey Jacob and 611 others for “Skill Development and Management Improvement Workshop Training”.

Similarly, the report said N42,398,000.00 was earmarked as payment to Mawo Dav Printing Nig. Ltd for the “production of letterhead papers & call cards” while another N36,513,718.75 was approved for Gebos Nig. Ltd — also for the production of letterhead papers and call cards.

The newspaper said Mr Nami appropriated N81,488,127 to himself and nine others as estacode for a study visit to the Inland Revenue of Malaysia, while N54,979,390 was approved to CDP Partnership Ltd as payment for engagement as a consultant for “stage I &II quantity surveying services”.

In total, the newspaper said, over N591 million was approved as estacode payment for official trips made by staff to Rwanda, Kenya, and Morocco, among other countries.

“The former FIRS boss approved over one billion as payment for the training of staff on tax disputes, capital market operations, and tax evasion strategies, among other modules,” the report noted.

As an engagement fee for consultancy work in respect of “education and enlightenment of civil society organisations”, the report also said Mr Nami approved over N173 million to Juzor & Company Ltd. while Jiop Azzy Ltd was listed to receive over N132 million for the same purpose.

“Nami also reportedly signed off on the payment of over N100 million to Skymart Capital Trading Ltd, Toplead Consulting Limited and Alim and Associates Limited for consultancy, monitoring and evaluation services,” the report said.

The Cable also reported that Mr Nami travelled out of the country following the approval of the payments on 16 September.

In his reaction to the report, Mr Nami said: “I want to categorically state that after my exit as FIRS Executive Chairman, I made no such approvals as claimed in the report.”

“Fundamentally, it is important to note that no payment was made by the Service after the announcement of my pre-retirement leave as claimed by this story. An approval for payment in the Service is one step of a journey to payment,” Mr Nami’s tweet read in part.

He said 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.

The former FIRS boss explained further that all decisions reached and extant liabilities/commitments of the service during his stay in office were contained in the handover notes he gave to his successor — Zacch Adedeji, and that he was fully briefed on everything.

“For clarity the items listed in the Cable Newspaper Report were part of the N16 billion outstanding commitments contained in our handover note,” Mr Nami’s tweets read further.

Mr Nami explained that N5 billion paid to the Joint Tax Board (JTB) was meant to fund the activities of the Presidential Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy Reforms two months before he left office.

He said the fund was paid after they received a letter to that effect from the Office of the President and signed by the newly appointed chairman, Mr Adedeji.

In another tweet, he said: “I want to categorically state that every decision I made within the time of my stay in office was within the ambit of the law and within the lawful powers I exercised then as Executive Chairman.”

“I inherited only N1.4 billion in the purse of the FIRS when I assumed office. I left N129 billion in the purse of the Service when I left,” he said