FIRS Applauds EFCC’s Role in Meeting Revenue Target
The Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS has expressed gratitude to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for assisting it in meeting up with the federal government’s 2025 revenue target.
This appreciation was made in Abuja on Tuesday, September 9, 2025 by the Executive Chairman of the Service, Mr. Zach Adedeji, when he led his management team on a courtesy visit to the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede at the Commission’s corporate headquarters.
“If you listened to Mr. President last week, we were being praised to high heavens for meeting our revenue target. But you know it is wrong to assume that we are the only ones doing the job. So, we take it upon ourselves that we need to visit and take Mr. President’s appreciation to our partners. So, I just came and commend the kind of relationship we have and how you really helped us in achieving our goal and by extension in sustaining financial stability of Nigeria,” he said.
Speaking further, Adedeji stated that, “Our visit is to commend you for your support and the second phase is to seek your cooperation. The main advertisement of compliance is when people begin to see what we use the money we collected for, and in achieving that goal, you are critical”
“We are going into another budget cycle where we are trying to reform our expenditure framework. So, we came to seek your partnership in helping us to have that transparent expenditure framework, that we collaborate on our voluntary compliance drive for Nigerian Revenue Service. We want to have a system that we aid taxpayers’ compliance”
“So, on behalf of Mr. President, on behalf of Nigeria and most importantly sub-national states because what we’ve done, they’ve never seen this kind of revenue before, we just want to tell the whole world and Nigeria in particular that we thank you for that support because it’s part of those things that has helped us to achieve what we achieved and will also help us to continue to achieve our goal”
In his response, Olukoyede praised Adedeji and the FIRS for achieving the revenue target and pledged EFCC’s readiness for more collaboration and support for the Service.
“I want to congratulate you on the no mean feat that you have achieved in this short period. I’m not sure there is a time in the history of Nigeria that we met our revenue target by August. Many people don’t understand the econometrics involved in that. I want to thank you for your commitment to this cause. It’s important for us to work together. Collaboration is very key. When they see EFCC beside FIRS, that sends a signal to the entire public that it’s no longer going to be business as usual,” he said.
Olukoyede reiterated the commitment of the EFCC in fighting tax fraud in the country, which recently received validation from the Court of Appeal.
“Recently there was this Court of Appeal judgment that affirmed the fact that EFCC can investigate tax fraud. It has been a matter of discussion here and there over the years and some people had cause to take us to court. Our primary mandate is to prevent and where one has taken place, we investigate and prosecute financial and economic crime. So, when you take it within that context of financial crimes, you will discover that tax and revenue issues fall under it. So, I don’t even see any reason why somebody should even go to court to contend that in the first place. But again, the court has made a pronouncement. We work within the confines of our own mandate”, he said.
Speaking on the working relation between the two agencies of government, the EFCC’s boss pointed out that, “We have been having a joint task force over the years. We work together and we’ll continue to do that. Synergy is very key. It’s very important because we need to cooperate with you. It was rightly said that bringing in all the money will not solve our problems. Value for money as you rightly put it, is what is important, financial discipline and responsibility. It is part of our mandate to ensure that the budget for something goes into what it was budgeted for. It’s a whole lot of government responsibility in the hands of both agencies. So, I want to assure you of our continuous collaboration and support. I also want to congratulate you on the passage of the Revenue Act which is going to take effect from January 1, 2026. We believe that will also add value to our economy. I am assuring you of our support and our collaboration anytime, any day,” he said.
