The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has apologised to Christians in the country over its controversial Easter message.

The FIRS’ Easter message with the headline ‘Jesus paid your debts, not your taxes’ had sparked controversy.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, condemned the Easter message and asked the FIRS to retract it and offer a public apology.

CAN also described the FIRS’ Easter message as “offensive and derogatory” to the Christian faith, saying it threatened Nigeria’s unity and undermined respect among diverse religious groups.

Responding to CAN’s statement, the FIRS, in a statement issued by the Special Adviser Media to the Service Chairman, Dare Adekanmbi, said the agency did not put out the flier purposely to “denigrate Jesus Christ or detract from the huge sacrifice He made for humanity”.

Adekanmbi added: “We are acutely aware that the essence of the Easter period is to celebrate this huge sacrifice.

‘Jesus paid your debt, not your taxes’: CAN slams FIRS, demands apology

“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.”

He noted that the FIRS has no religion and will not bring down any religion or offend the sensibilities of adherents of various faiths in the country.

The FIRS official said: “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.”

The Star