The Federal Inland Revenue Service is set to host a two-day national conference on illicit financial flows, aimed at strengthening efforts to curb tax evasion and protect Nigeria’s financial system.

In a statement on Sunday, the Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS Chairman, Dare Adekanmbi, said the conference will take place from July 22 to 23 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

Themed “Combating Illicit Financial Flows: Strengthening Nigeria’s Domestic Resource Mobilisation,” the event is expected to draw policymakers, tax administrators, law enforcement agencies, anti-corruption bodies, financial experts, and international stakeholders to discuss practical solutions to tackle IFFs and improve revenue collection.

According to Adekanmbi, the conference will be chaired by the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, while Irene Ovonji-Odida, a member of the United Nations High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows, will deliver the keynote address.

In his speech, the FIRS Chairman, Zacch Adedeji, said, “The conference will spotlight the agency’s intensified efforts in tackling IFFs, including strengthening compliance mechanisms, enhancing beneficial ownership transparency, and leveraging technology to detect and deter tax evasion, trade mispricing, and other illicit outflows.”

He noted that the service has already taken proactive steps to tackle the challenge, including the approval of targeted capacity-building programmes for FIRS personnel to enhance their ability to identify and curb illicit financial flows, particularly those involving multinational corporations.

“Before now, we have set in motion machinery to tackle IFFs by approving capacity building programmes for staff members of the agency on how to identify and block IFFs, and to increase revenue collection from the multinational corporations,” Adedeji said.

He further stated that the creation of the Proceeds of Crime Management and Illicit Financial Flows Coordinating Directorate is part of efforts to entrench a structured and sustained approach to tackling IFFs within the FIRS.

The statement also noted that the Federal Government had previously inaugurated an Inter-Agency Committee on Stopping Illicit Financial Flows from Nigeria. Members of the committee include the FIRS, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ovonji-Odida, in anticipation of the event, expressed hope that the conference would enhance understanding of illicit financial flows and bolster national commitment to their elimination.

The FIRS noted that the conference’s outcome is expected to support the Federal Government’s push for financial integrity and improve domestic resource mobilisation for national development.