The former executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Muhammad Nami, has categorically denied the claim that he signed a ’suspicious’ 11bn naira deal before exiting the office weeks ago.
Taking to his X account (formerly Twitter), Nami said that such a claim, reported by The Cable Source, cannot be farther from the truth, and it is overlaid with mischief and misinformation.
According to him, he made no such approval before leaving the seat as FIRS chairman and no payment by the service after his pre-retirement leave.
He said,
Speaking further, he noted that the claim by The Cable publication of the listed items was part of the 16 billion naira outstanding commitments contained in the FIRS handover note.
He further stated that the N5 billion paid into the Joint Tax Board was meant to fund the activities of the Presidential Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy Reforms two months before I left office and was duly signed by the new chairman himself, Zacch Adedeji.
Nami expressed his disappointment at the publication, highlighting that the media outlet should have verified their claims from a reliable source before proceeding to publish it.
He said,
Earlier, TheCable reported that Ex-FIRS boss Nami approved N11bn ‘suspicious’ payments after his exit.
According to TheCable, Nami allegedly approved the payments just two days after his removal on September 14, and he was succeeded by Zacchaeus Adedeji.
The media also claimed that Nami also moved about N5 billion to the account of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) from the FIRS account.
Responding to the publication, Nami insisted that no such clandestine approval was made by him and all his operation as FIRS chairman was done under the auspices of approved protocol and signatories.
