CONTROVERSY OVER NEW FIRS CHAIRMAN

Ministry Shortlists Six Candidates, Drops Incumbent Boss; North Kicks

CONTRARY to the conventional practice, the Ministry of Finance may, Sunday, conduct a final interview for six shortlisted candidates vying for the chairmanship of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

This is the first time such interview and selection process will be adopted for the FIRS or related appointment in Federal parastatals and MDAs.

The outcome of Sunday’s exercise is expected to help the Ministry zero in on just one of the candidates.

Incidentally, the FIRS is one of the few MDAs that expressly preclude such process of appointment in the enabling law — the Federal Inland Revenue Act, 2007, in FIRS case —, thus raising fresh controversy on the legitimacy of the process.

But Max Ogar, a constitutional lawyer with special interest in public interest litigation, Saturday, said the move could set a dangerous precedent, as it was the exclusive function of the President to make such appointments.

Anchoring his argument on the law {Section 3(2)(a)} — Federal Inland Revenue Act, 2007 — that vests the President with the Authority to appoint any person of his choice into the office, therefore, Ogar urged President Jonathan not to set “a bad precedent,” subjecting the FIRS chairmanship position to undue political maneuverings through such “tests” as planned by the Finance Ministry.

“If we allow the ongoing joke to go, then, we shall get to a point where Nigerians will insist on the President declaring vacant Ministerial positions — the National Security Adviser, the Chief of Staff (COS), among others — and subjecting the selection process to screening/interview; may that day never come.

“Specific to the FIRS job, it is the President’s exclusive right, subject only to Senate confirmation.  I expect the President to take absolute charge of the process by looking at whoever he feels can deliver. Nobody needs to screen/interview anyone for Mr. President,” he said.

Ogar’s grouse against the ongoing process of screening/interviewing candidates for the position is not an isolated case.  He had instituted a suit against the National Assembly urging it to declare then Vice President Jonathan as Acting President. He also instituted a suit against Governor Liyel Imoke and INEC on the issue of tenure of office and challenged the long stay of the immediate past Chair of the FIRS in office, as well as the e-coding agenda of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services.

In a screening exercise, which dropped the incumbent acting Chairman, Kabir Mashi, from the list, the Ministry had cut down the number, from a little above 30, to six candidates, an action that has sparked hushed complaints and bickering in the race for the top FIRS job. The six candidates represented two geopolitical zones, the South-South and the South East, thus having the potential to pitch the North against the Finance Ministry.

In the backdrop of the process being adopted to fill the vacancy at the FIRS, the North, as a single bloc, is insisting on either retaining the incumbent or replacing him with another Northerner.

But Finance Ministry source said Mashi is not qualified for the post, going by the Ministry’s requirements; hence, he was not shortlisted for Sunday’s interview.

It was gathered that, led by a powerful governor from the region, South South is also laying claim to the position, which had been zoned to it, in view of the fact that former FIRS boss, Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, is from the South South.

But, having thrown the position open, other regions have pressed to have it, hence the South East lobby group, which claims that the zone has been marginalised in existing key federal appointments.

A former Managing Director of a bank, who is also a serving chairman of another bank, is a top contender from the South East.

The Finance Ministry could not confirm or comment on the process at the weekend, as its spokesman, Paul Nwabuikwu, could not be reached for comment. Several calls put to his phone rang out. In the same vein, a text message sent to his mobile phone yesterday requesting confirmation of today’s scheduled interview was not acknowledged as at the time of going to press.

The myriad of interests jostling for the position and the controversy surrounding the process of selection are hinged on alleged undue influence of the former Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mrs. Omoigui-Okauru, who is said to have already anointed one of the candidates.

Another major area of concern was the seeming irregular procedure being adopted for the appointment, contrary to the stipulated norms for all MDAs, including the FIRS.  Although this measure has been canvassed in some quarters, vested interests insist that the motive behind the interview could go beyond the “mantra of transparency or using a reputable firm of management consultants like Philips Consulting.”  Some of them accused the Ministry of already anointing a candidate for the job to meet the aspirations of certain global organisations and agencies.

A source at the Federal Civil Service, responsible for executive federal appointments, said, since the Finance Ministry is not the only one that has MDAs under its supervision, it could, by its action, be setting a precedent, albeit a dangerous one, to openly hijack the appointment of heads of MDAs, a constitutional responsibility of Mr. President, and in some cases (like the FIRS and the CBN), subject to confirmation by the Senate.

The source added that “if the Ministry is allowed to complete the process, then, there would be no reason other ministers would not do the same for all other MDAs.  By extension, the Minister for Police Affair could organise interviews for appointment to the post of Inspector General of Police, while Minister of Defence would do the same for Service Chiefs. So, simply put, the President’s executive powers would have been eroded substantially.”

Nigeria currently has about 260 federal MDAs periodically requiring appointment of boards and chief executives by the President.

About 50 MDA executive vacancies, including board positions, have, in the lat two years, been filled through presidential appointments without ministerial interviews. They include NNPC, NIMASA, NPA, INEC, NPC, among others.

Similarly, the appointment of a CBN Governor has always been filled without staged interviews, the same for FIRS executive chairmanship positions that have always been filled by presidential appointment with Senate confirmation, the reason such a seemingly transparent move is drawing the ire of major stakeholders.

Those uncomfortable with the current process, at the weekend, described it as a smart move by the Ministry of Finance to usurp presidential powers, which other ministers are waiting to capitalise on by merely citing the citing the FIRS’ case as an established precedence.

Source: Guardian