President Buhari Fires IRS Chairman And Others

In his continued bid to sanitize the public sector, President Muhammadu Buhari has relieved the chairman of the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service of his duties.

The president also ordered that the chairmen of the Secondary Education and Universal Basic Education Boards be unseated with immediate effect.

This injunction was contained in a letter with reference no. SGF.19/S.81/T1/97 sent by the secretary to the federal government, on Wednesday, September 9, to John Chukwu, the FCT permanent secretary.

Mohammed Sule, the FCT deputy director on press, in a statement made on Thursday, September 10, in Abuja, quoted the letter as directing the affected chairmen to comply with the federal government’s directive on the dissolution of the governing boards of parastatals, agencies, institutions and government-owned companies.

The letter reads in part:  “The Federal Government’s directive as contained in Circular Ref. No. SGF.19/S.81/XIX/964 on the dissolution of the Governing Boards of the Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions and Government-owned companies remains extant.

“In view of this directive, the FCT Permanent Secretary has directed the former Chairman of the FCT IRS to hand over all duties and responsibilities of his office as well as government belongings in his possession to the Director of Treasury, FCT, while the Chairmen of the Secondary Education Board and Universal Basic Education Board should hand over all duties and responsibilities of their offices as well as government belongings in their possession to the Directors/Secretaries of SEB and UBEB respectively.”

Meanwhile, the contributions of the officials to the development of the Federal Capital Territory was appreciated by the FCT Administration, with well wishes for them in their future endevours.

Since President Buhari came to power in May 29, swearing to fight corruption, there have been series of sacks of top officials in the public sector, as the president has said he will neither condone corruption nor incompetence in his regime.

The sack of the IRS chairman and members of the education board is the latest in a series of appointments terminated by the president, a move that many say is bringing back sanity to agencies and the public sector in general.

However, some Nigerians have said that the Buhari ‘axe of justice’ must be wield fairly and not with any political bias.

Dele Momodu, a former presidential candidate and journalist, said the president must not use the mantra of change and anti-corruption to witch hunt, but rather ensure that justice is served in all fairness regardless of person or party.