FIRS Chairman Commends Army for peace & stability which ensured generation of #5.23trillion in 4 years.

The Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler on Wednesday commended the Nigerian Army for its commitment to ensuring peace and stability in the country saying this has created the environment for the huge revenue generation of #5.23trillion, recorded by the FIRS.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai at Army headquarters, Fowler said “We are quite aware that unrest brings about poverty, unemployment and instability which further affects the economy. However, in the last 4 years, the economy has come out of recession and several sectors of the economy are experiencing improved performance”

“That is why in the last four years, we have generated in excess of #5.23trillion. This is outside oil revenue, that has never happened before and part of the reason is that the Nigerian Army has done its beat of dealing with unstable situations that would have caused instability and affect conducive environment for investment”.

” So essentially if some are asking what we are doing at Army headquarters, we are here to appreciate the Nigerian Army. I believe very strongly that any individual man or woman who is prepared to lay down their lives for the nation deserves commendation.

Pledging to partner the Army towards achieving the objectives for which it was established, Mr Fowler said , ” If there is anything we can do to assist the Army in its operations “but not on the war front’, we will be willing to show our support”.

Consequently he announced the donation of 20,000 books and literature on tax education for distribution to Army Command Secondary and Command Children Schools.

In his response, the COAS, Lt. General Buratai gave the FIRS a pat on the back for the tremendous improvement of the revenue base of the country which has also necessitated a lot of investments.

His words, ” We know the position of our economy as at 2015. From your briefing, tremendous achievements have been made. Improving the revenue generation of the country has helped a lot. Investment will continue to flourish and governance will be better for it.

“We thank you for appreciating our efforts and we want to assure you that we will remain undaunted in our mandate. It is our constitutional responsibility to protect and defend the territorial integrity of the country.. We do this with the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Airforce and other security agencies playing their part.

” We are ever ready to continue our responsibilities to ensure we have peace and stability so that the economy will thrive. So that while we do the physical aspect, you will do the financial aspect of ensuring security.

Lt. General Buratai used the occasion to appreciate the FIRS for not only constructing the Ogundeko hall for students at the Nigeria Military School (NMS) but also furnishing it as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.

He requested that such support should be extended to the New Nigerian Army University which has taken off in Biu, Borno state.

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