The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Nami, has been elected by the 47 member countries of the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA) as its 15th President for a three-year tenure.

The newly elected President of CATA brings in decades of experience in taxation and administration both in the private and public sectors.

In his acceptance speech read during the Virtual Conference of the Forum, Mr. Nami thanked all members of CATA for the confidence reposed in him by electing Nigeria as President, noting that it was a call to duty and promised to serve dutifully, shouldering the great responsibility that comes with the assignment.

Muhammad Nami, who is the former Chairman of the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) stated that due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, taxation has become the mainstay for economies the world over in providing the required revenue to fund governance.

He promised that as President of CATA he would mobilise the member countries and other tax bodies to build capacity of tax administrators to tackle the challenges they face.

CATA was established following a decision taken at a meeting of the Commonwealth Finance Ministers held in Barbados in 1977. It had 23 founding member countries and has grown to 46 member countries today, making it one of the world’s largest bodies of tax administrators.