The Federal Internal Revenue Service of the Capital Territory (FCT-herrs) has sought collaboration with the Commission of Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) to improve fiscal compliance in the FCT.
The Interim Executive President of the Service, Michael Ango, during a courtesy visit to the Executive President of the EFCC, Mr. Olanipekun Olukoyede, at the commission corporate headquarters, said Wednesday that the association was important due to the legal roles of Both agencies.
Mr. Ango declared that the commitment to the EFCC was in line with the mandate of the FCT-herrs to collaborate with agencies such as the EFCC to improve the fulfillment of taxes in the FCT. He pointed out that one of the main initiatives of the FCT-herrs in 2025 is the harmonization of income collection and administration in the FCT and to achieve this, the support and collaboration of all people and agencies such as the EFCC would be required.
This is to ensure that all income due to the FCT is collected and counted transparently and to improve the ease of doing business and improve income generation. This will further consolidate the development of mass infrastructure in the FCT, by Barr. Nyesom Wike, FCT Minister.
In this regard, ANGO pointed out that most of the suspects that EFCC investigate financial crimes did not comply with the tax and would be useful if those people were interrogated regarding their fiscal state and were required to fulfill their fiscal obligations as part of the Research process
The IRS Chief of FCT stated that this approach could also be extended to the decisions of assets or money of suspects to the EFCC by the courts.
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“When the suspects are being investigated or accused of the courts, we would like to know, the president of his level of compliance, if they escape a door, we can catch them through another door. Therefore, we will be happy to associate with you, as we are doing with your sister agency, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), ”he said.
Mr. Ango was condol Executive Director of the Commission.
In his comments, the executive president of the EFCC, Mr. Olanipekun Olukoyede, thanked the president of FCT-hers and his team for the visit and expressed his willingness to associate with the service to improve the collection of income in the FCT. Olukoyede said the commission is in association with the Federal Internal Income Service (FIRS) and other state internal income services and, therefore, would be willing to associate with the FCT-herrs to underpin their collections.
He pointed out the need to have an understanding memorandum (MOU) to highlight the specific collaboration areas that point out that such would even more strengthen the relationship between the two organizations.
The EFCC president further praised Mr. Michael Ango's efforts since his appointment as an interim executive president, adding that he has been monitoring the achievements in the short period of time and is not surprised on the development of aggressive infrastructure in the FCT. By the Honorable Minister of the FCT, which shows that the taxpayer's money is judiciously used throughout the territory.