Beyond revenue collection, Zacch Adedeji’s first year as Executive Chairman of Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has made remarkable impact on the economy and society at large. Under his leadership, the agency recorded an unprecedented 76 per cent increase in tax revenue, surpassing its 2024 target. Also, Adedeji has spearheaded sweeping reforms aimed at simplifying tax compliance, modernising processes, and fostering economic growth. Essentially, under his leadership, the FIRS has embraced a strategy built on three core pillars—People, Technology, and Process—outlined in the newly developed Customer-centricity Guide. Chiemelie Ezeobi writes that as Nigeria moves towards a more efficient and transparent tax system, his vision and strategic approach continue to reshape the country’s fiscal landscape
Undoubtedly, Zacch Adedeji’s tenure as Executive Chairman of Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has been nothing short of transformative with his impact beyond revenue collection. Adedeji has introduced a bold, customer-centric organisational structure aimed at simplifying tax compliance, modernising operational processes, and fostering economic growth.
At the heart of these reforms is the agency’s new brand slogan, “Simplifying Tax, Maximising Revenue”, which encapsulates Adedeji’s vision of leveraging technology to make tax processes more efficient while ensuring optimal revenue collection for national development.
Unprecedented Revenue Growth in 2024
In 2024, Zacch Adedeji’s first full year as Executive Chairman of Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the agency recorded a whopping 76 percent increase in collection, from 12.37 trillion Naira in 2023 to 21.6 trillion Naira; comfortably in excess of the 19.4 trillion Naira target set for the year.
The year also saw landmark progress in the bold quest to reshape Nigeria’s tax administration landscape, with the submission to the National Assembly of four Executive Bills on Tax Reform, developed by the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, and whose implementation will largely be driven by the FIRS – embodying a scale and scope of fiscal reform unprecedented in the history of the country.
Strong Foundation in Fiscal Management
These feats are testament to Adedeji’s administrative acumen; here’s a public servant more than equal to the huge task entrusted to him in September 2023 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Adedeji assumed leadership of the FIRS on the back of solid fiscal management experience at the subnational level, as Commissioner for Finance in Oyo State (2011 –2015); as well as federal experience, first as Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), and then as Special Adviser to the President on Revenue – a role which he now combines with the leadership of the FIRS.
As Commissioner in Oyo State, he led the design and implementation of a Medium-Term Financial Strategy for the State, and piloted, in 2012, the implementation of the Treasury Single Account system (TSA), which saw consolidation of over 2,000 State government accounts into fewer than 100, yielding billions of Naira in additional revenues. He also oversaw the rollout of an electronic government payments platform, among other public finance reforms.
Academic Excellence and Visionary Leadership
Propelling the man and his successes is a first-rate mind that earned a first-class degree in Management & Accounting, a Master’s degree in Accounting, and, in 2024, a PhD in Accounting – all from the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). In the last eighteen months, Adedeji has stamped his brilliance, vision and ambition on the agency – the FIRS he presides over today is quite a different entity from the one he inherited: energised, confident, restructured, motivated.
A Customer-centric and Technology-driven FIRS
At the start of 2024 he launched a new, customer-centric organizational structure for the agency, prioritizing efficiency and ease of compliance. Along with this reform came a new brand slogan: “Simplifying Tax, Maximising Revenue” – perfectly capturing his vision for Nigeria’s pre-eminent revenue agency: technology-enabled simplification of processes and technology-enabled maximisation of collections. What more should anyone expect of a Revenue Service? The simplification benefits the taxpayer, and the maximisation benefits the government – a careful balancing act that incentivises entrepreneurship, economic growth and national development.
Prioritising Staff Welfare, Institutional Growth
Under his watch, he unveiled the three strategic pillars of the new FIRS, embedded in an equally new “Customer-Centricity Guide”, as follows: People, Technology, Process.
In infact, in January 2025, when he celebrated his 47th birthday, a video of FIRS staff in jubilant mode began circulating on the internet, maliciously spun by agents of disinformation as an over-the-top birthday celebration for the tax helmsman. The video was in fact not in any way related to his birthday. Instead, it was weeks old, and the celebrations were in response to the unveiling of a new and improved welfare scheme for the agency. A clear demonstration of Adedeji’s robust understanding that to deliver maximally on his mandate, he must be able to count on a workforce that is motivated and empowered to give their best.
It was in full alignment with this realisation that the FIRS in 2024 received a support mission from the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), to help improve performance management within the Service, as well as build staff capacity, through learning and development initiatives, among others.
Beyond welfare, the FIRS has also embarked on publicly advertised recruitment processes for both entry-level and experienced positions. The FIRS is keen to position itself as an institution that can attract the best of talent in an open and transparent manner, defying the stereotype that agencies like it only carry out secret recruitments. Soon, the successful candidates in this very competitive recruitment process will resume and begin contributing their own quota to the agency’s journey of transformation.
Leveraging Technology for Taxpayer Convenience
As the central pillar of the new FIRS, “Technology” is boldly underlining every new initiative. In 2024, the FIRS launched the “Self-Registration” Module on its one-stop-shop TaxProMax platform, affording taxpayers the convenience of being able to complete their tax registration processes from digital devices and in the comfort of their homes and offices.
Additionally, one of the most impactful public service technology initiatives in Nigeria last year was the FIRS’ new USSD short code – *829# – designed and deployed to transform taxpayer engagement and to promote ease of compliance. With this new code, taxpayers are now able to use their mobile phones to retrieve Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), verify Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC), view all tax types and corresponding rates, locate the nearest tax offices, and carry out a wide range of tax-related enquiries.
Building Partnerships for a Robust Tax System
In the area of partnerships, the FIRS has equally stepped up, engaging closely with various stakeholders, from subnational governments to business corporations to professional bodies, government MDAs, international partners, and the public. Helming a country’s Federal Revenue Service requires constant engagement with State governments, through platforms such as the Joint Tax Board (JTB) and the Federation Allocation Accounts Committee (FAAC). The complexities of these engagements demand nothing less than superhuman levels of political savvy and a sense of being carried along, all of which Adedeji abundantly possesses.
Driving the New Tax Reform Bills
The new Tax Reform Bills also brought out a side of the FIRS boss that many might be aware of, given his style as one not inclined to be talkative or to hug the limelight. A series of viral clips from his presentations to stakeholders including the National Assembly on the benefits of the new Bills affirmed both his accounting bonafides and his personal communications skills – showing a man who not only understands his work perfectly well but is also able to get others to understand it and appreciate its benefits and significance.
Ensuring Simplified and Efficient Tax Processes
“Process”, the last but not the least of Adedeji’s strategic pillars, is pivotal to the work of the Service. It is what taxpayers and the public see, assess and pass judgement on, when they think of the FIRS. Under Adedeji’s watch, the FIRS is obsessed with simplification (of processes) and reduction (of tax burdens). The new “Deduction of Tax at Source (Withholding) Regulations, 2024”, a brainchild of the FIRS, with the approval of the Honourable Minister of Finance, seeks to modernise Nigeria’s Withholding Tax regime and align it with international best practice. The new regulations took effect on the 1st of January 2025, and include a number of reductions of Withholding Tax rates.
Blocking Leakages and Expanding Revenue Sources
Ultimately, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) exists to serve Nigeria and its people; to help make available revenues that will finance infrastructure, social investment, job creation, and enduring prosperity. And to do so in a manner that is neither burdensome nor oppressive to the individuals and businesses from whom those taxes will come.
A big part of this responsibility entails blocking loopholes and leakages through which Nigeria currently loses money. The more the leakages that are successfully blocked, the more the revenues that are available to finance development.
Major Transitions for 2025
2025 indeed looks poised to be a definitive year, with the imminent passage of the groundbreaking Tax Reform Bills, that will, among other results, transform the FIRS into the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS). When that happens, it will be Adedeji’s responsibility to lead this unprecedented transition, implementing an expanded mandate that, if fully delivered upon, will finance not just the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda, but also the socio-economic transformation of Nigeria; the unleashing of a new and enduring wave of national prosperity and progress.
