The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) chairman, Zacch Adedeji, has established a 12-member Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) with the goal of firmly establishing accountability and transparency in the tax collection processes and operations of the agency.
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The unit’s mandate is to guarantee that unethical behaviour and corruption within the revenue-collecting agency are not tolerated.
At the Revenue House in Abuja on Tuesday, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) officially opened the organisation, which would work with anti-graft authorities.
Speaking at the occasion, Adedeji advised the recently hired members of the anti-corruption unit to live honourably, stating, “He who comes to equity must come with clean hands,” while being represented by his chief of staff, Mr. Tayo Koleosho.
In a statement, Dare Adekanmbi—the Special Advisor on Media to the Chairman of the Financial Institutions Regulatory Service—tasked the unit’s members to uphold the agency’s basic values, which he claimed detest corruption, and to apply honesty and openness to their duties.
The simple aspect of serving in the FIRS anti-corruption section is already complete. Now is when the real job begins. Dr. Zacch Adedeji, the Executive Chairman of FIRS, feels that one must approach equity with clean hands. Adedeji stated, “The integrity you bring to this responsibility should be relatable to the FIRS staff and, by extension, the taxpayers as well as the general public.”
The anti-corruption team will continue to get help from the FIRS, according to Mohammed Lawal Abubakar, Coordinating Director of the help Services Group. He also asked the inductees to set a good example for others by being honest and ethical.
The Director of the ICPC’s System Study and Review, Mr. Olusegun Adigun, on behalf of ICPC Chairman Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, promised to assist the FIRS ACTU members in carrying out their mandate. With this inauguration, the FIRS’s Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit has gained the authority to carry out its mandate, which includes educating staff members about the negative effects of corruption on a regular basis, examining and proposing solutions for corrupt systems, processes, and procedures, creating and reviewing an ethics code for staff members, overseeing the FIRS’s implementation of the code, monitoring the budget, organising the distribution of ethics and integrity scorecards, and conducting preliminary investigations into complaints and reports received.
“The ACTU is not organised to function as the management’s subordinate authority. Instead, they will collaborate closely with management to establish a respectable agency. Therefore, as stated in the Federal Government’s current circular, I beg the FIRS to view the unit in this light, support it by creating an environment that is favourable to its operations, give it money and office space, and allow members to join various standing committees,” the head of the ICPC said.
Adedeji received high marks from Hajia Sa’adatu Yero, the anti-corruption unit’s director, for his sincere efforts to fortify the anti-corruption section. Yero stated: “ACTU has been given the vital duty of stopping corrupt activities within the Service by successfully putting anti-corruption policies and procedures into place.
In order to maintain the highest standards of integrity and transparency in FIRS operations, ACTU works to eradicate unethical acts. Representatives from the various Service groups as well as other pertinent functions make up ACTU of FIRS.
Since its establishment, the unit has worked in tandem with internal and external partners like the Nigerian Police Force, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the International Commission on Crime and corruption (ICPC) to ensure that any risks of corruption or unethical behaviour within the Service are adequately addressed.According to the 2022 Ethics and Integrity Scorecard assessment, ACTU of the Service received a score of 79.95%, placing it among the top in the nation.
The appointment of a Director to lead the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit as chairman and Director-ACTU, who will oversee all facets of the Service’s anti-corruption operations, was approved by the Executive Chairman FIRS, who is dedicated to ending all corrupt practices within the Service, she said.At the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) inauguration on Tuesday at the Revenue House in Abuja, Chief of Staff to the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Tayo Koleosho; Coordinating Director, Support Services Group, M.L. Abubakar; and a representative of the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Director, System Study and Review of ICPC, Mr. Olusegun Adigun, presented copies of the anti-corruption manual to FIRS management representatives.
At the Revenue House in Abuja on Tuesday, a diverse group of members of the FIRS Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) were sworn in.