Ijewere, the Brain Behind Nigeria’s Value Added Tax, Dies at 77

Segun Atanda/

The main brain that midwived Value Added Tax (VAT) in Nigeria has died.

Dr. Emmanuel Ijewere, who was a former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), reportedly succumbed to a prolonged terminal illness on Thursday. He was 77.

He served as the Chairman of the modified value-added tax committee set up by the Federal Military Government under Gen. Sani Abacha in 1993, after Dr. Sylvester Ugoh led a study group on indirect taxation in November, 1991. VAT is an indirect tax levied on goods and services for the value added at every stage of production and distribution.

Ijewere conducted an extensive research and made recommendations which led to the replacement of sales tax established under decree No. 7 of 1986 with VAT that was introduced in 1993 by the VAT Act No. 102 of 1993 to favour development in the lower tier level of government.

Ijewere was one of Nigeria’s most prominent businessmen. He had a wide range of interests and experience in banking, finance, and agriculture.

He was the 32nd president of ICAN, leading the accounting body from 1996 to 1997. He also served as the president of the Institute of Directors (IOD) and the Nigerian Red Cross Society.

He physically led the Red Cross in rescue operations when massive explosions from the armoury of the Nigerian Army at Maryland, Lagos, killed over 1000 people and displaced more than 20,000 on January 27, 2002.

Born in 1946, Ijewere studied in Lagos, Ijebu-Ode, Cameroon, and the United Kingdom (UK).

He began his accounting career in 1965 working at Coopers & Lybrand, and later established Ijewere & Co., a chartered accountancy firm in Nigeria, in 1979.

Since then, the firm has grown into one of the nation’s most reputable native accounting companies and tax advisory services.

Ijewere also served as chairman and director in many companies, including Best Foods Group, Emson, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, Drum Resources Nigeria Limited, Apel Capital & Trust Limited, Countrywide Direct Mortgage Company, Kerildbert Holdings, Computer Warehouse Group (CWG), Gemini Pharmaceuticals, among others.

Ijewere was the pioneer chairman of the Agriculture and Food Security Commission. He was a member of the national economic forum (NEF), the international investment council (HIIC), and the agricultural transformation implementation council (ATIC), under the chairmanship of ex-President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

He also served as a resource person on agriculture to the transition committee of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ijewere was the president of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NAGB), the umbrella organisation for Nigerian agriculture, until his death.

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