More than 72 civil society organisations (CSOs) have backed Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr Zacch Adedeji, describing recent allegations from some groups as baseless and driven by malice. 

In a joint press conference in Abuja, convener of the coalition and National Coordinator of the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CFTPI), Ibrahim Bello, said the group was not surprised by what it described as “sponsored attacks” on Adedeji. 

According to him, certain individuals who do not wish the nation well are attempting to undermine reforms crucial to Nigeria’s economic growth.

The coalition also disclosed that it had written to Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, alleging that some lawmakers were lending support to groups bent on distracting the FIRS chairman and, by extension, sabotaging President Bola Tinubu’s economic agenda. 

The letter, they said, highlighted documented achievements recorded by Adedeji since his appointment, and urged the Speaker to caution members who were “becoming clogs in the wheel of national progress.”

Representatives of the participating CSOs, including Fatima Sani of Citizens Watch for Good Governance, Chukwudi Eze of the Accountability and Democratic Values Initiative, Dr Ngozi Okeke of the Nigerian Coalition Against Corruption and Waste, and others from regional and sector-based transparency groups, maintained that the ongoing reforms at the FIRS had unsettled individuals who previously benefited from loopholes in the tax system. 

They stated that the reforms had significantly increased government revenue and contributed to economic stability.