Why Fowler’s tenure was not renewed – Presidency

The Presidency has explained why the tenure of former Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, was not renewed saying the former chief revenue collector failed to meet set targets and generate enough revenue for the country.

Fowler, whose term of office expired on December 9, 2019, was replaced by Mr. Muhammad Nami.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Mallam Garba Shehu, while speaking with journalists at the weekend in Abuja, also said that it was not a scandal for the federal government to borrow more money to finance infrastructure in the country.

He explained that what is commonly used to adjudge countries if they have over borrowed is the debt to GDP ratio, adding that Nigeria’s debt to GDP ratio is very low even among West African countries.

He noted that at about 20 per cent, ‘it is not a threat’, adding that Japan’s GDP debt ratio, it is more than 100 per cent.

Shehu stated: “It is not a scandal to borrow, the bad thing about borrowing is when you deployed it to your pocket. This has happened in the past in this country, President Buhari is borrowing to do railway, to do East-West express way, to do second Niger bridge, to do Mabilla power, to do Abuja-Kano expressway, to Ajaokuta-Abuja gas pipeline. These are projects that are beneficial to the economy, these are basic infrastructure projects, railway, power, without which this country cannot achieve development.

“So, if you ask me, from my own understanding, the problem we have in this country is the revenue issue. We have a revenue problem because we are unable to generate as much money as it is needed to do more capital infrastructure and also service debt.

More in Home

Police Arrest House of Rep Member, Shina Peller

Buhari Makes New Appointments, Names Adeolu Akande, Abubakar Sa’id NCC, NITDA Chairmen

Gunmen Abduct WAEC Official, Demand N20m Ransom

Ogun APM Guber Candidate Returns to APC

Sex Scandal: Sacked Lecturer Threatens to Sue EKSU, Student over Dismissal
“Because of the low revenue earnings, people look at the size of our debt repayment and they scream. But government is doing something about this and I’m happy you have seen the change that has happened in FIRS, give them a chance, let see how they would perform. Government is optimistic that things will look upward and the revenue will improve. And once there is inflow that is sufficient to do a lot of these things, we may not even need to borrow.”

On the regulation of social media, Shehu said social media has become a problem for many families because the rights of women and children are being abused, noting that there was a need to protect vulnerable members of the society.

He added that there was need for media stakeholders to collaborate with Minister of Information to formulate the kind of regulation they want so that government would not be accused of imposing a regulatory mechanism on the media.