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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
A planned protest seeking the removal of the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Zacch Adedeji, over alleged financial impropriety has been shelved following a reassessment of the issues surrounding the revenue agency and its ongoing reforms.
The decision was announced by the Centre for Peace, Transparency and Accountability and the Women’s Rights Advocacy Network, among other groups, which said they had initially been misinformed about the activities of the NRS under Adedeji’s leadership.
Speaking after an emergency meeting in Abuja, the leader of the Women’s Rights Advocacy Network, Ngozi Okafor, said the groups had reviewed the NRS reforms and concluded that the agency’s revenue-generation drive was contributing to improved government finances and economic activity.
Okafor said the groups were particularly impressed by what she described as the impact of the reforms on revenue generation since Adedeji’s appointment by President Bola Tinubu.
“We have deeply assessed the revenue drive led by the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Dr Zacch Adedeji, since he was appointed by President Bola Tinubu to spearhead some of the reforms in revenue generation.
“We are really impressed with his performance and impact made so far in terms of revenue generation, and we can see the impact these reforms have made on the nation’s economy,” she said.
She claimed that monthly allocations to the three tiers of government had risen from about N700 billion in 2023 to approximately N4.5 trillion, representing an increase of about 530 per cent.
According to her, the increased allocations had strengthened the finances of state governments and reduced their dependence on federal interventions to meet recurrent obligations.
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“It is also evident to see different projects being embarked upon in the states, which is an indicator of increased allocation. Therefore, the impact goes beyond the Federal Government,” she said.
Okafor also claimed that the reforms had improved investor confidence by contributing to a more predictable business environment, particularly through changes in the foreign exchange market.
She said the narrowing of the gap between official and parallel-market exchange rates had made it easier for investors to assess returns and improved confidence in Nigeria’s investment climate.
Bello, who also spoke on the decision to shelve the protest, said the administration’s reforms had benefited the financial sector and young Nigerians.
He cited the recapitalisation of banks, saying financial institutions had raised about N4.6 trillion following a directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria, with approximately 75 per cent of the funds reportedly coming from domestic investors.
He also highlighted the student loan scheme and the Credit Corps as interventions designed to improve access to education and finance.
According to him, more than one million students in about 300 higher institutions had benefited from the student loan scheme, with about N303 billion reportedly disbursed over the past three years.
The groups said their decision to suspend the planned protest followed their assessment that the reforms being implemented by the NRS were contributing to improved revenue mobilisation and broader economic activity.
Editor’s note: I have kept the claims and figures attributed to the activists rather than presenting them as independently verified facts. There are also a few potentially significant factual issues in the original copy—especially the NRS/Adedeji title, revenue figures, exchange-rate claims and student-loan figures—that should be independently checked before publication.
