FIRS Tenders Apology To CAN Over Controversial Easter Message

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has tendered an apology to Christians and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) over its Easter message.

FIRS, in a now-deleted post on its X handle about Easter on March 31, wrote that “Jesus paid your debt, not your taxes”.

The post sparked a significant public outcry among Christians and backlash, which led the government agency to delete the post.

Consequently, CAN condemned the Easter message by FIRS, describing it as offensive and derogatory to the Christian faith, and demanded an apology from the agency.

Responding in a statement on Tuesday by its spokesman, Dare Adekanmbi, the FIRS said it is a responsible agency of the government and did not put out the flier purposely to denigrate Jesus Christ or “detract from the huge sacrifice He made for humanity”.

The agency stated that the unintended meaning being read into the post was not what the message was out to communicate as an agency.

FIRS, therefore, apologised to CAN and Christians who were offended and annoyed at the unexpected consequence of the message.

The statement reads: “We are acutely aware that the essence of the Easter period is to celebrate this huge sacrifice.

“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.

”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.”