By Muhammad Mamman
Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr Zacch Adedeji, has called on world leaders to confront the scourge of cross-border crimes, warning that such practices continue to erode national revenues, distort fair competition, and undermine economic development.
Dr Adedeji issued the charge on Monday while delivering the keynote address at the 42nd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crimes (CIDOEC), held at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Represented by Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), he emphasised that cross-border tax crimes had become one of the most corrosive threats to the global economy.
“In today’s interconnected world, capital moves faster than law enforcement, while digital and legal loopholes often outpace regulation. The fight against cross-border crime is therefore both local and global, urgent and pressing,” he said.
The symposium, a flagship platform for international dialogue on economic crimes for over four decades, drew around 1,000 participants from more than 100 countries, including legislators, regulators, law enforcement officials, compliance experts and academics.
Dr Adedeji, who also serves as Special Adviser on Revenue to President Bola Tinubu, cautioned that individuals and corporations exploiting the intricacies of global finance and trade to evade taxes were complicit in cross-border crime.
“When companies manipulate intra-group transactions to shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions, or when individuals conceal income in secrecy havens to avoid home-country taxes, they sabotage the fiscal integrity of nations,” he said.
Turning to Nigeria’s domestic landscape, Adedeji noted that President Tinubu inherited not only fiscal challenges but also a system besieged by illicit practices including subsidy abuse, foreign exchange manipulation, illicit financial flows, and trade-based money laundering.
He highlighted the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda as a bold response to these challenges, citing the President’s assent to four landmark tax reform bills on 26 June 2025 as proof of Nigeria’s commitment to fiscal sovereignty and transparency. The reforms, he explained, introduced over 400 changes to modernise tax laws, strengthen enforcement, and align Nigeria with global best practice.
Dr Adedeji also revealed that the FIRS, set to transition into the Nigeria Revenue Service by January 2026, is evolving into a fiscal crime prevention and intelligence agency, central to national security and economic stability. He outlined a sweeping technological transformation, including tax data automation, e-invoicing, real-time analytics, AI-powered anomaly detection, and a National Tax Data Warehouse to consolidate financial information across agencies.
“By harnessing big data and machine learning, our tax administration is now becoming predictive rather than reactive. Compliance will be simpler for honest taxpayers while evasion becomes increasingly difficult for offenders,” he said.
