"Jesus Paid Your Debt, Not Your Taxes": FIRS Makes Fresh Appeal After CAN's Outburst

• The FIRS has tendered an apology over its Easter message to Christians, which read, "Jesus paid your debt, not your taxes"
• Dare Adekanmbi, the special adviser on media to the chairman of the FIRS, in a statement, said the message of the agency was different from the interpretation given to it
• Adekanmbi noted that it was one of the FIRS' unique ways of communicating with Nigerians to remind them to pay their taxes

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has made a fresh appeal to the Christians in Nigeria following its Easter message, which led to an outburst by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

In its Easter message to the Christians on social media, the FIRS shared a flier of a point of sale (PoS) machine and captioned it: "Jesus paid your debt, not your taxes".

Read also

Nigerian family of 5 relocates to the US with their father who travels down to pick them

FIRS deletes controversial Easter message

After deleting the post, Channels Television reported that the tax agency later apologised for the move.

In a statement on Tuesday, April 2, Dare Adekanmbi, the special adviser on media to the chairman of the FIRS, said, "we wish to offer our unreserved apologies for this misinterpretation."

The agency further stated that the flier was not put out to denigrate Jesus Christ or deny his huge sacrifice for humanity as claimed.

FIRS: What our Easter message meant

Adekanmbi maintained that the meanings read to the post were not what the FIRS intended to communicate to Nigerians.

The statement partly read:

“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.”

Read also

“I'm desperate to see Nigeria work”: Peter Obi speaks on dumping LP, contesting against Tinubu in 2027

The statement noted that its earlier post was one of the unique ways the agency passed messages to Nigerians not to forget to pay their taxes.

Easter: FG declares Friday, Monday public holidays

Legit.ng earlier reported that the federal government declared Friday, March 29 and Monday, April 1, as public holidays.

It said the move will allow the Christian faithful and Nigerians to celebrate the 2024 Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the minister of interior, made the announcement in a statement on behalf of the federal government.

Source: Legit.ng