Ayodele Subair: A Tax Reformer with the Midas Touch

Who is your Man of the Year? Alternatively, who deserves the award for the Man of the Year?

No doubt, not a few members of the public will name several prominent individuals who are deserving of this award. But what is not in doubt is that many will vote Ayodele Subair, Executive Chairman, Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS), as their Man of the Year. If you ask them why, they will quickly reel out his achievements and sterling performances as the head honcho of the LIRS.

With the wave of his professional wand, he has pivoted the operations of the tax payment institution into a seamless and exceptional process. He is reputed to have injected lifeblood into the state’s economy with his tax reform, a development that has boosted his profile. He is recognised for introducing many competitive innovations that today place Lagos far above its contemporaries, while he has also scored many firsts since he took over at the agency.

For instance, his Whistle-Blower Initiative has been applauded by many, including a civil society organisation, Vanguard for Transparency and Accountability. The group described the recently launched initiative as an exemplary boost to the anti-corruption crusade. It also lauded the Subair-led LIRS management for sustaining its pace-setting records in tax management reforms in Nigeria.

The President of the anti-corruption crusade group said that the initiative, which subjects the operations of LIRS to public scrutiny, would promote openness, accountability and ultimately enhance citizens’ participation in governance, thereby boosting their trust in the activities of a sensitive agency of government.

Meanwhile, staff of the agency are also very confident of promotions based on merit as Subair is reputed for fairness and principled disposition regardless of pressure from social influence as the chairman restated the commitment of the management to the welfare of its staff strengthened by the belief that a motivated workforce will lead to greater productivity

He said: “We take the welfare and career development of our workforce as a key metric in our journey to always deliver our statutory role as a revenue agency. In 2019, we approved a 70% salary increase for staff from Assistant Revenue Manager and below, and a 50% increase for Revenue Manager and above.

“This is the most significant salary review in the Agency to date. A total of 3,608 members of staff were promoted between 2017 to 2021 and all our staff do not pay for standard medical services.

“We also ensure that performance bonuses are paid to all staff, based on clearly defined and documented processes while union dues are remitted timely and correctly with all other statutory deductions such as pensions.”