Meet new FIRS acting chairman, Zaccheus Adedeji

The appointment was announced by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale.

As contained in the statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Adedeji is to serve in an “acting capacity for 90 days before his subsequent confirmation as the substantive Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service for a term of four years in the first instance.”

In this piece, PUNCH Online highlights 10 things to know about the new FIRS acting chair.

1.  Born Zaccheus Adedeji, on January 8, 1978, in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Adedeji comes from a family deeply rooted in the cocoa trade.

2. He received a National Diploma in Accounting from Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State.

3. He proceeded to Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, for his Bachelor of Science, where he bagged a First class degree in Accountuing.

4. After his bachelor’s programme, Adedeji obtained a Master of Science degree in Accounting, also from OAU.

5. Afterwards, the FIRS acting chair went to the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in the United States, for an Executive Course in Economic Development.

6. He held a managerial position in the multinational corporation, Procter and Gamble.

7. At the age of 33, Adedji was appointed by the late former governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, as the Commissioner for Finance; making him (Adedeji) the youngest person ever to hold such a postion in the state.  He served in this capacity from 2011-2015.

8. Owing to his expertise in corporate tax and public finance development, Adedeji was appointed as the Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council.

9. Adedeji co-founded RTR, a financial consulting firm that specialises in providing comprehensive financial advisory and policy development services to public administrators and private institutions across West Africa.

10. Before his appointment as the FIRS acting chair, Adedeji was the Special Adviser (Revenue) to the President.