Abuja: Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has announced its replacement of the defunct Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as part of a strategic overhaul of the country’s revenue administration system. Dr Zacch Adedeji, Executive Chairman of NRS, shared these developments during a television interview monitored from Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the change is part of the provisions of newly enacted tax reform laws that officially rename the country’s apex tax authority from FIRS to NRS. Dr Adedeji clarified that this transition is not merely a rebranding but a comprehensive institutional upgrade aimed at transforming the revenue administration into a modern, digitalised, centralised, and intelligence-driven system.
Under this new framework, multiple tax and revenue-related functions that were previously distributed across various agencies have been consolidated. This consolidation focuses on data integration, automation, and reducing human discretion. Dr Adedeji also addressed concerns over potential alterations to the newly enacted tax reform laws, affirming that only officially gazetted Acts hold legal authority and are binding on taxpayers and administrators.
He further explained that an Act of the National Assembly becomes effective only after Presidential assent and official gazetting, and that the gazetted version serves as the authoritative text in case of disputes. He emphasized that neither the executive nor the revenue authority has the incentive or legal capacity to alter the law post-passage.
The overhaul of the NRS is designed to align with the Federal Government’s broader fiscal objectives. Dr Adedeji noted that Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio has increased to about 13.5 percent as of October 2025, but acknowledged that it still falls below the African average and is lower than levels seen in peer emerging markets. The focus, he stated, is on taxing profits and returns rather than capital or investment.