FIRS defends FG’s borrowing framework

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

THE Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, yesterday defended the federal government’s borrowing plan, insisting that debt remained a legitimate component of every national budget.

It also announcing that Personal Income Tax, PIT, and Company Income Tax, CIT, reforms would take effect from January.

FIRS equally said federal revenue collection surged to N3.64 trillion in September 2025, a 411 per cent jump from N711 billion in May 2023.

Speaking on the government’s fiscal strategy while fielding questions from State House correspondents, during a session of the Meet-the-Press series organised by the Presidential Communications Team, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the FIRS chairman, Zacch Adedeji said the administration of President Bola Tinubu had ended the practice of Ways and Means financing through the Central Bank, converting the facility into a structured federal loan. 

He stressed that the government is now servicing the debt through both principal and interest repayments, a measure he said has contributed to stability in the economy and eased pressure on the exchange rate.

According to him: “Borrowing is not a problem. It is part of every viable nation’s ecosystem. No country in the world survives entirely on its own revenue. When government borrows from banks, it pays interest; banks pay salaries from that, and taxes are collected from their profits. It is a cycle that sustains continuity.” The FIRS boss noted that every budget has three components, expenditure, revenue, and loans. 

He argued that as long as borrowing falls within what was approved by the National Assembly, there should be no controversy.

“Borrowing to fund infrastructure, like roads, yields future tax revenues from businesses and individuals who benefit from those projects. It is a sustainable approach,” he said.

He also confirmed that beginning January, PIT and CIT reforms will be rolled out to expand Nigeria’s revenue base, in line with the administration’s drive to reduce overreliance on borrowing.

On the rise of revenue, a deck shared by the Tax Chief, showed that the increase was driven by higher non-oil receipts, with FIRS’ non-oil collections topping with N1.06 to compared to N151 billion two years earlier. 

Oil revenue from FIRS also grew to N644billion  while VAT jumped more than threefold to N723 billion.

The post FIRS defends FG’s borrowing framework appeared first on Vanguard News.