Abuja, July 28, 2025
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Chairman, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, has launched a stinging critique of Nigeria’s persistent economic woes, attributing a significant portion of the country’s financial underperformance to massive illicit financial flows and capital flight. In a no-holds-barred address, the FIRS boss declared that Nigeria is no longer prepared to tolerate the siphoning of its wealth by multinational corporations and domestic profiteers.
Speaking during a high-level government session on revenue mobilisation and anti-illicit flow mechanisms, Dr. Adedeji lamented that Nigeria, despite being blessed with abundant crude oil, natural gas, solid minerals, and a dynamic population, continues to struggle to meet its fiscal obligations due to entrenched leakages in its financial system.
He accused some multinational companies operating in Nigeria of deliberately manipulating transactions, shifting profits, and evading taxes through aggressive transfer pricing and other sophisticated accounting maneuvers. These actions, he noted, have bled the nation of billions of dollars that could have been used to fund infrastructure, health care, and education.
The Federal Government, in response, has vowed to step up its enforcement mechanisms to clamp down on these practices. President Bola Tinubu’s administration is reportedly finalising new policy directives and legal reforms aimed at strengthening financial transparency and plugging the leakages that have plagued the nation for decades.
Dr. Adedeji assured Nigerians that the FIRS, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and other regulatory bodies, will leave no stone unturned in retrieving stolen assets and ensuring that all companies pay their fair share. “We are reclaiming what rightfully belongs to us,” he declared, vowing that the era of impunity is over.
As Nigeria embarks on this recovery mission, analysts say success will depend not only on new laws but also on political will, international cooperation, and the integrity of enforcement institutions. The outcome of this battle could redefine Nigeria’s fiscal future and restore public trust in government revenue systems.
