Public power has a noise to it. Babatunde Fowler’s life now moves in quieter rooms, where decisions sound more like prayer than policy.
Fowler is best known as the former Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), a role he left in 2019. He once sat near the centre of Nigeria’s fiscal machinery. As of late 2025, he lives far from that glare, by choice and circumstance.
September 2025 marked a personal turning point. His mother, Chief Leila Fowler, died at 92. She was a respected lawyer and the founder of Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls. President Bola Tinubu publicly praised her legacy. For Fowler, the loss might have narrowed life’s focus.
Since leaving FIRS, Fowler has avoided Nigeria’s political spotlight. His exit followed the non-renewal of his appointment under President Muhammadu Buhari, and later EFCC questioning linked to his Lagos tax years. Though no charges followed, the episode still reshaped his public posture.
What remained constant was faith. Fowler has been an ordained pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) for over a decade. This role never competed with public office. Rather, it ran alongside it, quietly, without announcements or branding.
Within RCCG circles, he appears as Pastor Babatunde Fowler. He participates in church programs and social initiatives, including work linked to RCCG Rose of Sharon, where his wife leads corporate social responsibility. His spirituality is described by associates as deliberate and disciplined.
Withdrawal has not meant retreat from relevance. Fowler serves on the Pan-African Oversight Committee tied to the African Union’s Pan-African Parliament. He also remains a respected international tax expert, having served on a United Nations committee on tax matters.
These roles keep him engaged beyond Nigeria’s politics. They also allow distance from its daily quarrels. It is advisory work, slow work, influence without microphones.
With Nigerians traditionally defining influence by office, Fowler’s lesson is different: sometimes the stronger calling is the one that survives when the titles fall away.
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