The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Nami, has said that citizens’ right to demand accountability from government on what their taxes are being spent on is dependent on their tax compliance.
Nami, who made this remark in his opening remarks at the unveiling of the FIRS Service Charter in Abuja in commemoration of the 2022 Global Customer Service Week, charged Nigerians to be fair to the government by paying their taxes, noting that this is the pathway to the country’s sustainable growth.
He said: “Nigerians should be fair to the government. We must start to trust the Government. Nigerians must also understand that tax is a statutory responsibility and they should pay their taxes.
“Globally, tax is a social contract between government and its citizens. It is when citizens fulfil their obligations that they have moral rights to ask government to account for taxes they pay.
“Nigerians are expected to understand that globally citizens pay for their own civilization; as most infrastructure and privileges in advanced countries are made possible by the revenue generated through the taxes their citizens pay to the government”, the FIRS boss added.
Nami also appealed to all tiers of governments to give value to citizens for the money they pay as taxes.
Commenting on the Global Customer Service Week, he noted that the Week aligned with one of the four-cardinal objectives of the FIRS, that is making the Service a “Customer-centric institution”.
According to him, the FIRS has taken steps and actions to institutionalize effective and efficient service delivery to all its stakeholders.
He clarified: “For us at the FIRS, the essence of the customer service week is to further promote the culture of quality service delivery and team spirit among staff and reward them for their commitment to the mission and vision of the Service.
“The importance of efficient service cannot be relegated in a service-oriented institution like ours as quality service to our taxpayers and customers in general lead to increase in tax compliance and revenue generation, which is integral to nation building”, Nami added.
In her remarks at the forum, the CEO of SERVICOM Presidency, Mrs. Nnenna Akajemeli, who delivered the keynote address at the event commended the FIRS for being one of the agencies of government that was committed to providing value to taxpayers.
The Global Customer Service Week is a week-long international celebration that calls attention to the importance of customer service and the people that provide it with a view to boosting morale and teamwork.
