Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has tendered an unreserved apology to the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) over its Easter message which generated controversy amongst Christians.
In celebrating Easter, the FIRS had shared a flier showing a Point of Sale (PoS) machine which was posted on its social media platforms with the headline “Jesus paid your debts, not your taxes”.
The advert, however , did not go down well with the Christian body, who described.the post as one that is insensitive and insulting to Christians. It further, demanded that the post be brought down immediately and an apology be tendered by the service.
In a swift reaction, the Service later deleted the post and apologized to the Christians body, saying: “we did not put out the flier purposively to denigrate Jesus Christ or detract from the huge sacrifice He made for humanity”
A statement issued on Tuesday by Date Adekanmbi, Special Adviser (Media) to the FIRS Chairman, Mr. Zacch Adedeji, reads in parts:
“Our attention has been drawn to a statement by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) about a flier posted on our social media platforms with the headline “Jesus paid your debts, not your taxes.”
“As a responsible agency of government, we would like to say we did not put out the flier purposively to denigrate Jesus Christ or detract from the huge sacrifice He made for humanity. 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. The unintended meaning/insinuation being read into the post was not what we were out to communicate as an agency.
“Good a thing, this much is acknowledged by CAN in its statement wherein it said “We recognise that the intended message may have been to creatively engage taxpayers…” We wish to offer our unreserved apologies for this misinterpretation.
“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. Once again, we wish to apologise to CAN and Christians who felt offended at the unintended consequence of our message on Easter Sunday.