The Federal Inland Revenue Service has announced plans to host a two-day national conference on illicit financial flows as part of renewed efforts to combat tax evasion and safeguard Nigeria’s financial system.
In a statement made available to our correspondent on Sunday, the Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS Chairman, Dare Adekanmbi, said the conference will hold from July 22 to 23 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
Themed “Combating Illicit Financial Flows: Strengthening Nigeria’s Domestic Resource Mobilisation,” the event is expected to draw policymakers, tax administrators, law enforcement agencies, anti-corruption bodies, financial experts, and international stakeholders to discuss practical solutions to tackle IFFs and improve revenue collection.
According to Adekanmbi, the conference will be chaired by the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, while a member of the United Nations High-Level Panel on IFFs, Irene Ovonji-Odida. will deliver the keynote address.
Speaking on the significance of the event, the FIRS Chairman, Zacch Adedeji, said, “The conference will spotlight the agency’s intensified efforts in tackling IFFs, including strengthening compliance mechanisms, enhancing beneficial ownership transparency, and leveraging technology to detect and deter tax evasion, trade mispricing, and other illicit outflows.”
He noted that the service had already taken proactive steps to address the challenge, including the approval of targeted capacity-building programmes for FIRS personnel on identifying and curbing IFFs, especially from multinational corporations.
“Before now, we have set in motion machinery to tackle IFFs by approving capacity building programmes for staff members of the agency on how to identify and block IFFs, and to increase revenue collection from the multinational corporations,” Adedeji said.
He added that the establishment of the Proceeds of Crime Management and Illicit Financial Flows Coordinating Directorate is a move aimed at institutionalising the fight against IFFs within the service.
The statement also recalled that the Federal Government had previously established an Inter-Agency Committee on Stopping IFFs from Nigeria, which comprises FIRS, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ovonji-Odida, in anticipation of the event, expressed hope that the conference would deepen understanding of IFFs and strengthen national commitment toward eliminating them.
The FIRS said the outcome of the conference is expected to reinforce the Federal Government’s drive toward financial integrity and effective domestic resource mobilisation for national development.
Recall the Federal Inland Revenue Service has launched a new podcast titled Tax Advocacy Podcast, a bi-weekly broadcast initiative aimed at strengthening awareness of Nigeria’s evolving tax landscape.