President Bola Tinubu Extolls Defining Qualities Of FIRS Chairman, Zacch Adedeji On Birthday
Dr. Sacch Adedeji
President Bola Tinubu has extolled the fine defining qualities of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr. Zacch Adedeji, as he marks his birthday on January 8.
The President also congratulated the young first-class graduate of accounting who steadily rose through the ranks in public service by dint of hard work, loyalty and competence.
Tinubu noted that his service as the Commissioner of Finance in Oyo State at the age of 33; the CEO of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC); Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, and now Chief Executive Officer of the nation’s apex tax authority.
“Zacch is an innovator who consistently turns his creative ideas into change-making actions. He is a disciple of the ‘think-and-do’ school of changemakers. He will reform Nigeria’s tax system for the benefit of Nigerians. Give him a task, and it will be done and done well,” the President stated.
President Tinubu wished the FIRS Chairman more strength and zeal in the discharge of his duties.
It would be recalled that President Bola Tinubu had in June 2023, appointed eight think tanks to assist in realising his renewed hope agenda towards breathing a new life into the economy and security of the citizens.
One of the astute men and women appointed was Zacch Adelabu Adedeji, an industrious, brilliant, vibrant, result-oriented and accomplished professional who, before the appointment, was the Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council.
When Mr Adedeji was appointed as the fifth substantive Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council in March 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, stakeholders in the sugar sector hailed the appointment as one that would redefine the growth and development of the sugar industry.
For over two years, he worked assiduously towards Nigeria’s drive to attain self-sufficiency in sugar production through faithful implementation of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP).
He assumed leadership of the Council with a proven track record of over 15 years of hands-on executive experience (+16 years qualified chartered accountant) in strategy, accounting and financial management, financial analysis/reporting, internal controls, change management, and people management.
Before he was appointed the Sugar Council boss, Mr Adedeji had demonstrated capacity for service delivery when he worked as one of the youngest Commissioners in Nigeria.
In 2011, barely seven months after his 33rd birthday, he was appointed Commissioner for Finance in Oyo State, becoming the youngest person to have occupied such a position. This was after he had attained managerial status a few years after working diligently with an American multinational company- Procter and Gamble (P & G). To date, he is one of the most sought-after in the state and beyond.
He is a First-Class graduate of Management and Accounting from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He later bagged a Master of Science in Accounting from the same university. He is currently a doctoral student at the same university. His insatiable quest for knowledge took him to the famous Harvard Kennedy School of Government in the United States of America for an Executive Course in Economic Development.
Mr Adedeji’s long sojourn in the private sector and a four-year stint as the Commissioner for Finance in Oyo State between 2011-2015, with unbeatable and unassailable performance records and achievements, have undoubtedly, prepared him for the arduous task of providing the needed leadership required for Nigeria’s revenue management. The government is in dire need of improved revenue mobilisation to match the high debt stock of the nation.
He held several senior management positions while working at the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), a renowned American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America, with branches across several countries.
He was General Accounting and Stewardship Manager between January 2004 to May 2006, where he led a cross-functional team to prepare and report financial statements regionally and globally through a consolidated data entry tool.
Mr Adedeji’s culture of hard work and professional excellence earned him a higher position at P&G with his elevation as the Finance Leader-SAP (Systems Applications and Products) Implementation Project. He spearheaded the day-to-day evaluation and implementation of SAP Modules. Also, he led a 15-person finance team to develop the internal processes for the rollout of SAP West Africa in line with the project’s prerequisites.
He later became Corporate Finance Manager (West Africa), overseeing Treasury, Corporate/Affiliate Accounting, AP &Tax at Procter and Gamble between August 2007 and May 2011.
While in the saddle as the Commissioner for Finance in Oyo State, he introduced several brilliant, forward-thinking, revenue-boosting and cost-saving reforms that pushed up the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state, plugged financial leakages, introduced best financial practices and general financial turnaround among other innovations.
Mr Adedeji, a Fellow of Chartered Accountant (FCA), is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and member Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN).
Immediately after he took over at NSDC, he hit the ground running with a series of programmes to reposition the sugar sector as encapsulated in the Nigerian Sugar Master plan.
In driving the growth and development of the sector, he has, within a space of 26 months, implemented a series of programmes that have attracted huge investments into the sugar industry and positioned the sector as an avenue for job creation and poverty reduction.
