Zacch Adedeji, chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and Ismail Adewusi, former postmaster-general of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), will be attending a dialogue organised by NPO Reports.
The one day dialogue will hold on November 26 at the Nigerian National Merit Award House in Abuja.
NPO Reports—formerly known as Nigeria Politics Online—is organising the event with the theme ‘Revenue Generation, Infrastructure Progress: Options in a Challenged Economy’.
Semiu Okanlawon, chief executive officer and publisher of the newspaper, said the event is in furtherance of the organisation’s commitment to deepening conversations on issues pertaining to the welfare of Nigerians.
Okanlawon noted that experts from critical sectors of the economy, revenue generating agencies, and policy analysts, are expected to discuss generating revenue to meet Nigeria’s infrastructure challenge.
“For instance, current administrations at all levels are confronted with serious issues of infrastructure decay. These are very ominously manifest in the critical sectors like Education, Health, Roads, Security and others. Funds are needed to fix these,” the statement reads.
“However, the administrations are also faced with daunting challenges in getting the needed revenues. Insecurity has made oil revenues unpredictable with the government battling to shore up crude oil production.
“The tax reform efforts of the government are being met with stiff resistance causing the fears that the leakages of many decades and other factors causing revenue shortfalls may persist. What then are the ways out?”
Other speakers at the event will include Hakeem Tijani, a senior research fellow of political science at the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan; Tope Fasua, special adviser to the president on economic matters; Femi Soneye, chief communication officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Limited; and Idayat Hassan of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CISI).
