FIRS Chief Urges Global Action Against Cross-Border Crimes
By Patience Ikpeme
The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr. Zacch Adedeji, has called on international leaders to confront the growing problem of cross-border crimes that are disrupting revenue collection and hindering economic growth worldwide.
Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS boss, Dare Adekanmbi, in a statement, said Adedeji made this call in a keynote address delivered at the 42nd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crimes (CIDOEC) at the University of Cambridge.
Dr. Adedeji, who was represented by the Coordinating Director of Proceeds of Crime Management and Illicit Financial Flows, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, explained that these crimes are undermining national efforts to generate revenue for development. He also pointed out that they create an unfair business environment where law-abiding companies are at a disadvantage.
“This year’s theme ‘Cross-Border Crimes’ speaks directly to one of the most complex and corrosive challenges of our interconnected world,” said Dr. Adedeji, who also serves as the Special Adviser on Revenue to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He added that in a global economy where “capital can move faster than law enforcement, and where digital and legal arbitrage often outpace regulation, the fight against cross-border economic crime is, by necessity, both local and global, both urgent and pressing.”
The FIRS chairman described how individuals and corporations exploit the complexities of international trade and finance to evade their tax obligations. “When corporate or natural persons earn income in one country but hide same in another country, when they deceive, conceal or falsify records, they undermine the integrity and fiscal aspirations of the two countries they are manipulating,” he said. He further explained that when companies engage in abusive transfer pricing and shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions, they are committing a form of cross-border tax crime.
Dr. Adedeji also spoke on the reforms being implemented by the current administration to build a more prosperous economy. He said that President Tinubu inherited significant fiscal challenges, including the abuse of the fuel subsidy system, the exploitation of foreign exchange rate differences, illicit financial flows, and money laundering schemes.
He explained that under the administration’s “Renewed Hope Agenda,” Nigeria has a clear mission to protect its fiscal sovereignty, increase domestic resource mobilization, and close channels that are bleeding the economy. As part of this effort, he noted that President Tinubu signed four landmark tax reform bills into law on June 26, 2025. “These reforms modernise our tax laws, enhance transparency, strengthen enforcement, and align Nigeria with global best practices,” Dr. Adedeji said. “The new fiscal regime heralds over 400 specific changes into Nigeria’s tax laws and administration.”
Dr. Adedeji announced that the FIRS will be rebranded as the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) beginning in January 2026. He said the agency’s mandate has been redefined to focus on fiscal crime prevention and intelligence gathering, positioning it as a key component of Nigeria’s national security and economic stability.
The FIRS chief said the agency has launched a technological transformation program that includes tax data automation, e-invoicing, real-time analytics, and the use of AI to detect fraud. “These tools ensure that compliance is simplified for taxpayers while evasion becomes more difficult for offenders,” he stated.
He added that the FIRS is also creating a National Tax Data Warehouse to consolidate information from various government agencies and private sector partners, enabling the service to “forecast revenues, spot risks, and detect tax evasion patterns before they take root,” which will make tax administration “predictive rather than reactive.”
