Babatunde Fowler’s intelligence and brilliance cannot be over emphasised, thus, giving him a chance to serve at different capacity of government, after leaving the banking sector over a decade ago, is a testimony of his impeccable knowledge of anything relating to finance. He was the Chairman and chief Executive of Lagos State Inland revenue service before getting a federal appointment to serve as the Federal Inland Revenue Service head honcho, under President Buhari administration.
His travails started years back when he, staged a massive talk of the town wedding soiree for his daughter Funke Fowler and Abiodun Kuku in Dubai. Those who were present at the strictly by invitation wedding party destination Dubai, confessed that its indeed a party to beat by any Nigerian.
The wedding took a toll on the relationship between the bride’s father and the then Governor of Lagos State Babatunde Fashola.
The wedding ceremony of the young couple was in two parts; and held in two continents. The first part was the traditional wedding held on October 22, 2011. The venue was the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos. The ceremony witnessed a sheer display of affluence as the crème de la crème of the society struggled to get seats at the event.
The Forbes rated richest man in Africa, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Federal lawmakers, Governors, Captains of Industry and who is who in the country were present at the ceremony which was conservatively reckoned to have gulped over N100 million.
Part two of the ceremony was held in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai on Saturday, November 19, 2011.
CITYSPY gathered that Dubai, the capital city of the UAE, was bombarded by the Nigerian nouveaux riche who had gone to witness the wedding. Moneybags in Nigeria took chartered flights to Dubai, while close sources claimed Fowler flew all his guests to the Arabian city first class. Indeed, the Fowler and Kuku wedding attracted so much hype, owing to what many described as wasteful spending.
Expectedly, the then Lagos Inland Revenue Service boss, Babatunde Fowler had received several knocks from many quarters. Critics have questioned
how he got so much money as a civil servant to spend lavishly on his daughter’s wedding.
The brazen show of affluence, we learnt, so much infuriated the then Lagos State Governor, Now Minister nominee Raji Fashola, who could not disguise his displeasure with Fowler over the negative reactions the wedding attracted to his government. He ordered the LIRS account be audited to the very last. His close and filial relationship with some top Lagos party leaders intervened and suppressed the fiasco between him and his then boss.
When Akinwunmi Ambode emerged Governor of Lagos in 2015, Ambode told Fowler to leave office as his services was no longer needed by his adminstration. Ambode was said to have gotten some document indicting Fowler on alleged mismanagement of tax payers funds. Few month after he was ousted out of office in Lagos, He got an appointment to serve as the FIRS boss.
Last week, a letter surfaced online, the Chief of Staff, Alhaji Abba Kayiri, in the letter querying Fowler over the decline in generation of tax and remittance into the federal coffers. The letter generated mixed reaction as many criticized the administration of saying its tax generation was higher than the GoodLuck Jonathan’s Administration.
Fowler had since been on the run in a bid to explain what happened as regards the nosedive in tax collection. Fowler in his reply explained that recession and the fall in oil price caused the generation and collection of tax.
According to some source, divulged that; it’s a bid to cripple Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s alleged presidential bid in 2023, knowing full well that Fowler is a core loyalist of the All Progressive Congress chieftain, who in turn might fund his campaign. While some inside source revealed that; “The Presidency said Fowler is not under investigation but the FIRS account will be audited and if any discrepancy is found, Fowler will be asked to resign and go on compulsory leave.”
