Wole Soyinka centre for investigative journalism holds lecture on taxation

The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) will on Wednesday, July 13, hold a lecture titled ‘tax education, national development and the seminal role of the media’.

According to a statement by the centre, the lecture is pertinent in the face of dwindling oil revenue and the government’s drive for tax compliance.

“As the 30th July due date for filing outstanding tax returns by companies to the FIRS draws near, the WSCIJ intends to use the lecture to contribute to strategic thinking and provide a veritable opportunity to raise critical questions for national debate on issues surrounding taxation. These will include the importance of taxation to development,” read the statement, signed by Motunrayo Alaka, centre coordinator.

Alaka said the lecture also intends to throw up questions on “evaluating the compliance rate, technology driven payment, the lack of trust for wise use of funds generated by the government, the level of reportage of the issue in the media and many more”.

Some of the speakers at the event include Simon Kolawole, chief executive officer of TheCable newspaper; Adebimpe Balogun, first female president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN); Auwal Musa (Rafsanjani), executive director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC); Modupe Oyekunle, president of NECA’s Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW), Emuesiri Agbeyi, tax partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers; and Deremi Atanda, executive director of Systemspecs.

Opeyemi Agbaje, managing director of resources and trust company, will moderate the event. Tunde Fowler, executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) will also attend the event.

The lecture, an annual programme of the organisation, has been held since 2009 to draw attention to critical national issues.