Posted by From Josephine Lohor in Abuja on
President Olusegun Obasanjo has asked all commercial banks owing the Federal Inland Revenue Service, (FIRS) unremitted taxes to pay up immediately.
President Olusegun Obasanjo has asked all commercial banks owing the Federal Inland Revenue Service, (FIRS) unremitted taxes to pay up immediately.
The president gave the order yesterday when he opened a meeting involving the FIRS, Central Bank of Nigeria, the Deposit Insurance Corporation and banks where FIRS funds were trapped.
The president said he had to protect what belonged to Nigerians and asked, “what will I tell Nigerians?" The president who left the meeting to chair the National Council of State meeting, directed Minister of State for Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Esther Usman, to meet immediately with the stakeholders and report agreements reached to him.
Also yesterday, the president restated his belief that government had a responsibility to provide consular services to any substantial number of Nigerians where ever they may be performing their functions. He said this when he received the 2005 Hajj report from the Amirul Hajj, Senate President Ibrahin Nasir Mantu, President Obasanjo and said that “it is incumbent on government to provide for the welfare of Nigerians."