The Federal Inland Revenue Service has denied funding the election campaign of the All Progressives Congress, APC, during the last presidential election.
In a statement by its Director, Communications, Mr. Wahab Gbadamosi, on Monday, the revenue collection body vehemently denied pumping in N90bn into the APC campaign.
The statement was in reaction to claims attributed to a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Timi Frank, that it aided the ruling party, through the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, with N90bn.
The FIRS described Frank’s claims as libellous and irresponsible and called on members of the public to ignore them.
The body said in the last four years since the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mr. Tunde Fowler, supervised operations at the FIRS, the agency had not received up to N90bn per annum as cost of collection from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC.
It pointed out that it was from the remittances from FAAC which had never gotten up to N100bn per annum that it paid salaries and emoluments and trained its over 8,000 members of staff, and managed over 150 offices.
The statement read in part, “The FIRS operates on behalf of Nigerians. Taxpayers’ money, including the operational funds of the service, is sacred and we exercise extra care and diligence in expenditures, even after such funds must have been appropriated by the National Assembly.
“This campaign of calumny and vilifying false claims are entirely, libellous, unfounded in fact, irresponsible and a brazen assault on the integrity of the Service as a responsible and accountable organisation and demonstrates an abysmal ignorance of the budgetary and expenditure process of the FIRS.
“FAAC is a public institution, whose records are open to the public.
“That FIRS is a creation of statute and its activities are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and financials regulations and thus, IT IS NOT PLAUSIBLE, that its funds could be expended in such a cavalier manner as suggested by Mr. Timi Frank.
“That FIRS Budget and expenditure approval processes pass through the Budget Office and the Ministry of Finance, before such are presented to the National Assembly for Appropriation into Law. The National Assembly committees, consisting of all parties and inclinations exercise oversight function on all agencies of the Federal Government to ensure agencies keep to the letters of the Appropriation Act. Thus FIRS’ operations are subjected to scrutiny and close monitoring by the National Assembly, the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee and the Ministry of Finance.
“It is therefore unthinkable, malicious and irresponsible for the said Frank to insinuate or infer that N90 billion or any part thereof could be spent illegally and without budgetary approval.
“It is equally alarming to note that this injurious falsehood and blackmail could find space in our mass media without proper scrutiny particularly with the availability of the Freedom of Information Act, which broadly allows Nigerians access to information on expenditure of public funds by government agencies. This all goes to show an orchestrated and invidious decision by paid agents to discredit the Service in order to achieve their diabolical ends, which is at variance from the interest of Nigerians.
“It is in the light of the foregoing observations, the FIRS demands an unequivocal apology from the said Mr. Timi Frank and a well publicised public apology in three major and leading newspapers within the next 24 hours.
The FIRS shall pursue claims for aggravated damages in libel and injurious falsehood against the said Mr. Frank if he fails to meet these conditions in the next 24 hours.”
