After his unexpected departure as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) chairman, Muhammad Nami approved payments totalling N6 billion to various contractors and consultants, investigations have shown.
These payments were approved just two days after his dismissal on September 14, according to insiders who spoke with our correspondents on condition of anonymity.
The former FIRS boss allegedly instructed departments to work through the weekend to finalise financial transactions.
It is claimed that files were moved from the agency’s headquarters to Nami’s residence, where they were purportedly backdated and signed.
Nami is also said to have transferred around N5 billion from the FIRS account to the Joint Tax Board (JTB). Despite alleged warnings from the FIRS director of finance and accounts, Nami reportedly assured them that the new chairman would be unaware of these approvals.
Jibrin Jibrin, Nami’s cousin and an assistant manager at the FIRS, allegedly assured staff that the payments wouldn’t attract attention, asserting that his uncle had taken care of matters when he was the acting executive chairman.
Documents indicate that Nami, on a single day, approved N5,628,496,823.04, $863,293.00, and £8,780 for express payment to 196 beneficiaries.
The payments also included N1,409,950,625.00 for a leadership retreat, N250,325,000 for FIRS Data Mining Management and Analytics in Taxation Course, and N221,311,840.00 for a workshop training. Nami appropriated N81,488,127.00 to himself and 9 others — as estacode for a study visit to the Inland Revenue of Malaysia while N54,979,390 was approved for CDP Partnership Ltd as payment for engagement as a consultant for “stage I &II quantity surveying services”.
Additionally, Nami approved payments for estacode, consultancy fees, and training staff on various subjects, amounting to over a billion naira.
FIRS officials, including Abdullahi Ismaila and Tobi Johannes, spokespersons during Nami’s tenure, claimed no knowledge of these transactions. Johannes stated that he stopped being the spokesperson when Nami’s tenure concluded.
