While Nigeria is working to reform its tax system to enable it to generate more revenue to run governance, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr Zacch Adedeji, said it is important to diversify public revenue streams by exploring alternative sources like tourism, agriculture, technology and natural resources to reduce dependence on the mainstream source.

Adedeji also said that the new tax reform bills before the National Assembly were developed to make taxation the pivot of national development.

He stated this yesterday in his keynote speech at the second edition of an annual national dialogue, organised by NPO Reports.

Adedeji who was represented by the Director of Intergovernmental Relations, FIRS, Dr Umar Ahmed Idris, said Nigeria does not need new taxes but new taxpayers, including people who are gainfully employed or are engaged in thriving businesses.

According to him, the new tax reform bills already with the National Assembly are in the spirit of reforming the tax system so that the country could generate more without necessarily overburdening the citizens.

He said Nigeria can generate sufficient revenue, adding that all the revenue collecting agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Ports Authority and FIRS, exceeded their targets from January to October with signs that they would exceed their targets for the year.