A public policy and good governance think tank, the NEO AFRICANA CENTRE (NAC), has raised the alarm over the appointment of the chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Zack Adedeji, into the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council. Under the arrangement, Adedeji is to serve as the Deputy Director of Fundraising for President Bola Tinubu’s election campaign.

In a statement by its Director of Public Affairs, Richard Manson, the Centre frowns on the appointment, asking President Bola Tinubu to withdraw it forthwith. It wonders why the chief revenue collector of the country should be saddled with the partisan role of raising campaign fund for the man that appointed him. Such a move is indicative of corruption and capable of eroding public confidence in the chairman of the revenue agency.

The statement reads in part: “We have noted with consternation and disbelief the recent appointment of the chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Mr Zach Adedeji, into the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council. We find it difficult to resolve the position of Adedeji as the chief revenue officer of the federation with the partisan role of raising campaign funds for the president that appointed him. We see a clash of interest here. Involving the chairman or member of a government agency in election campaigns amounts to tainting their records as public officers. Such roles are bound to clash and will ultimately lead to compromises and its attendant corruption.

“We are also bothered about this development because it creates the ugly impression that taxpayers’ money is being wrongly channeled into partisan politics. For an administration whose records are heavily tainted with allegations of mismanagement of public resources, bringing a revenue agency into the ugly mix will deepen the country’s woes in this regard.

“It is public knowledge that issues of financial leakages and malfeasance have dogged the engagements of the administration. In recent weeks, for instance, Nigerians have been feeling aghast over the claim by the Tinubu administration that it saved some N15 trillion from subsidy savings.

“Nigerians cannot find where this money is and government has also not come clean on this. This is bad enough. Nigerians are expecting transparency and accountability in matters like this. That is the more reason why an agency as sensitive as the NRS should be insulated from shady financial undertakings.

“We call on the President to withdraw forthwith the appointment of Adedeji into the fundraising arm of the campaign council. It is in the president’s interest to do so. Withdrawal of his appointment will also save the revenue agency and its chairman from being dragged into the dirty pool.”