The house of representatives committee on public accounts
has asked Mohammed Nami, executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue
Services (FIRS), to resign if he isn’t interested in appearing before the
panel.
The committee is investigating dwindling revenue of the
federal government as reported by office of the auditor-general of the
federation.
Nami was invited to explain the circumstances surrounding
the non-payment of taxes by Indorama Petrochemical, Indorama Fertilizer and
Petrochemical Ltd — all foreign firms —and OIS Indorama, Eleme, Port Harcourt.
He, however, failed to appear on Wednesday, and sent a
representative instead.
Oluwole Oke, chairman of the committee, ruled that Nami must
appear before the lawmakers on Thursday, otherwise the panel will invoke its
constitutional power.
There has been concern over poor payment of taxes to the
federal government causing it to lose huge revenue monthly.
Two of the firms listed in the report before the lawmakers
are said to be enjoying duty waivers and capital allowances, while the firm in
Port Harcourt reportedly operates on an export free zone.
Abdullahi Abdulkadir, deputy chairman of the committee,
lamented the non-appearance of Nami, saying it would prevent the panel from
carrying out a proper investigation.
Oke wondered why an appointed official of government would
turn down the invitation of the parliament at will.
He said Nami should “turn in his letter of resignation
immediately”, if he can’t honour the invitation of the lawmakers.
“This parliament is the symbol of democracy. We are the
representatives of the people. If President Muhammadu Buhari can cause
appearance before the parliament whenever the need be, why not his appointees?”
Oke queried.
“Enough is enough. If
the FIRS boss cannot perform his constitutional responsibilities again, he
should turn in his letter of resignation immediately.
“Is this how he wants to pay back Mr President who gave him
the appointment? The nation is losing billions of naira from tax evasion on a
daily basis, and the man in charge is expected to come to the parliament so
that a solution can be found on how to stop the ugly development, but he has
refused to honour the invitation.
“Based on the seriousness of this, the FIRS boss is to cause
physical appearance before this honourable committee by 10am on Thursday. We
are determined to stop this nonsense. The nation is bleeding.”
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