The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has apologised to Christians over its Easter message considered derogatory to the Christian faith and consequently stirred angst among adherents of Christianity.
In its Easter message to Christians in Nigeria, the FIRS had shared a flier showing a Point of Sale (PoS) machine with the caption, “Jesus paid your debt, not your taxes”.
The message triggered an outpouring of condemnations with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leading the faith and asking for an apology as it stated the faith was insensitive and derogatory to the faith.
While the post has been deleted, the FIRS has also apologised for the misunderstanding.
“We wish to offer our unreserved apologies for this misinterpretation,” the agency said in a late Tuesday statement by the Special Adviser (Media) to the FIRS Chairman, Dare Adekanmbi.
*We’ll never denigrate Jesus Christ — FIRS
FIRS said it “did not put out the flier purposively to denigrate Jesus Christ or detract from the huge sacrifice He made for humanity.
“The message was our way of uniquely engaging taxpayers and to remind them of the need to prioritise payment of their taxes as a civic obligation.
“Yes, we would say the message ruffled feathers in some circles.
“The unintended meaning/insinuation being read into the post was not what we were out to communicate as an agency.
“FIRS, as a responsible agency, has no religion and will not bring down any religion or offend the sensibilities of adherents of various faiths in the country.
“Our goal is to assess, collect, and account for revenue for the wellbeing of the Federation.
“We believe it is an investment in the progress of the country when citizens pay their taxes.
“Once again, we wish to apologise to CAN and Christians who felt offended at the unintended consequence of our message on Easter Sunday.”
