By Abbanobi -Eku Onyeka
Abuja
The Senate’s move to establish a Chartered Institute of Revenue and Fiscal Management suffered a setback on Thursday as key stakeholders in the taxation and revenue sector kicked against the proposal during a public hearing.
The opposition emerged at a joint session of the Senate Committees on Finance, Establishment and Public Service on the “Chartered Institute of Revenue and Fiscal Management of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill 2025.” Critical players in revenue generation, collection, and regulation argued that the bill was unnecessary and would create duplication.
First to oppose the bill was the Auditor General of the Federation, Mr. Shaakaa Kenyitor Chira. He urged the Senate to focus on strengthening the regulatory powers of existing professional bodies rather than creating new ones. “Emphasis should be on strengthening existing institutes and not establishing new ones to avoid institutional duplication,” he said.
Making a similar submission, the President-Elect of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Queensley Sofuratu Seghosime, said the proposed institute would trigger institutional rivalry and regulatory fragmentation. “ICAN has gone through the proposed legislation and strongly sees it to be unnecessary because proliferation of professional bodies weakens standardization,” she stated.
The Chartered Institute of Treasury Management also rejected the bill. Its representative, Titilayo Fowokan, asked the joint committee to halt the process. “Having gone through the draft copy of the proposed legislation for establishment of a new institute to be saddled with revenue and fiscal management and discovered the inherent lapses in it, CITM urged the Senate not to proceed on the legislation to the stage of third reading,” she said.
Dr. Yemi Sani of the Network of Maletax Practitioners of Nigeria told the Senate to step down the bill. He argued that establishing the proposed institute would amount to policy inconsistency given existing bodies in the sector.
Not all stakeholders opposed the legislation. The Institute of Revenue Management and Research and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, among others, declared support for the bill during the hearing.
Earlier, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, represented by Senate Minority Whip Tony Nwoye of Anambra North, said the legislation was designed to institutionalize professionalism, strengthen ethical standards, promote continuous capacity development, and provide policy advisory support in the vital sector. The Chairman of the joint committee, Senator Sani Musa, represented by Senator Adamu Aliero, explained that the bill seeks to establish the institute as a professional body responsible for regulating, promoting, and advancing standards in revenue and fiscal management practice across the country.
Senate’s Revenue Institute Bill faces backlash from tax, audit stakeholders
