FIRS chairman Nami elected 15thCATA president

The executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Nami, has been elected by the 47-member countries of the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA) as its 15th president for a three-year tenure.

According to a statement by Nami’s media aide, Johannes Oluwatobi Wojuola, he was elected during the virtual conference of the forum on Friday.

In his acceptance speech, he said he promised to shoulder the responsibility that comes with the assignment.

He said, “I want to assure all members that I will work assiduously in delivering on the mandate of this office, and I will not disappoint you. It is a great privilege and I do not take it for granted.”

“Today, taxation has become the mainstay of every economy around the globe. The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly affected the earnings of most economies, especially those whose revenue sources were fetched from activities such as recreational tourism, medical tourism, minerals exploration, commodity exportation etc.

“These activities were performed minimally, and in some cases even experienced total cessation due to physical restrictions imposed by many nations during the Covid-19 lockdown. Economies across the world have had no other choice but to look inward to taxation as the most viable alternative to provide the required revenue to fund the government.”

He promised to mobilise member countries and other tax bodies to build the capacity of tax administrators to tackle the challenges they face.