President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday approved the appointment of Dr William Fowler as the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
This information is contained in a statement issued in Abuja by the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina.
According to the statement, Fowler was one time Chief Executive Officer/Executive Chairman of the Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue from 2005 to 2014.
He had his higher education in the U.S., where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Business Administration degree from California State University.
Before joining the service of the Lagos State Government, Fowler had worked in the banking sector for about 20 years with long stints at Credit Lyonnais Nigeria Limited and Chartered Bank.
Under his leadership, the Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue reportedly achieved a sharp increase in internally generated revenue from an average of N3.6 billion per month in January 2006, to an average of about N20.5 billion per month in 2013.
Fowler, who holds an Honorary Doctorate Degree of the Irish International University, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and the Business Management Association of the UK.
According to the statement, he will serve as Acting Executive Chairman of FIRS until his appointment is confirmed by the Senate.
The statement further maintained that the appointment on Aug. 18 of Aliyu Gusau as Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, by Buhari, was for a term of four years.
It said that Gusau’s appointment was renewable for another four years, unless he attained the retirement age of 60 years or completed 35 years of pensionable service.
