Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators elects FIRS chairman 15th president

The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Nami, has been elected the 15th President of the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA), a statement from the FIRS has said.
Issued on Saturday, in Abuja, by Johannes Wojuola, Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the Executive Chairman, the statement said Nami was elected by the 47-member association for a three-year tenure.
The statement said Nami, a renowned tax administrator and former Chairman of the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), and vice chairman of Nigeria’s Joint Tax Board, had brought in decades of experience in taxation and administration both in the private and public sectors.
In his acceptance speech following the election, and read at the association’s virtual conference, thanked the CATA members for the confidence they had reposed in him by electing Nigeria as President.
While noting that his election was a call to duty. the FIRS boss promised to serve diligently and shoulder the great responsibility that comes with the assignment, Wojuola said in the statement.
“Your support is an honour that I do not take lightly. I want to assure all members that I will work assiduously in delivering on the mandate of this office.
“I will not disappoint you. It is a great privilege and I do not take it for granted,” he said.
Wujuola further quoted Nami as saying that due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, taxation had become the mainstay for economies around the world, in providing the needed revenues to fund governance.
“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 and more.
“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 revenues to fund government.
“The COVID-19 lockdown, digital technologies have transformed the way and manner humans interact and do business with each other, which has consequently brought about novel challenges for tax administrators.
“This new normal brought about a greater embrace of digital technologies that came with its own challenges for tax administrators. One of these challenges is the inadequate capacity of tax administrators to understand and track digitalised transactions, which have become the order of the day,” Nami said.
According to the statement, the FIRS Executive Chairman promised that as President of CATA he would mobilise the member countries and other tax bodies to build the capacity of tax administrators to tackle the challenges they faced.
“I will work with the CATA Secretariat to effectively collaborate with other tax bodies such as ATAF, WATAF, UN, OECD, NTO, among others, in the area of training and sharing of experience of good and innovative practices in tax administration from around the globe.
“One goal I hope to achieve as your President is to work hand-in-hand with member countries to expand the character of tax administration, such that our work will be in tune with today’s innovation and realities,” the new CATA President stated.
The Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators CATA) was established in 1977, following a decision by a meeting of Commonwealth Finance Ministers held in Barbados.
It began with 23 founding member countries growing to 47 member countries today, making it one of the world’s largest bodies of tax administrators.
CATA has, since its inception in 1978 focused on building and improving the capacity of its members, hosting annual technical conferences and high-level training programmes, while maintaining strategic partnerships with various multilateral and global tax institutions across the world.
The Forum has also played critical roles in the formulation of tax policies and procedures of its member countries.