Nigeria’s Peoples Redemption Party has rejected a recent tax cooperation agreement between the Federal Inland Revenue Service and France’s tax authority, warning it poses serious threats to the country’s sovereignty, economy and national security, in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.
The opposition party said the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the FIRS and France’s Direction Générale des Finances Publiques on digital transformation and information exchange could compromise control over Nigeria’s critical tax data and expose the country to foreign leverage in future economic negotiations.
The PRP also criticised the appointment of Xpress Payment Solutions Limited as a Treasury Single Account revenue-collecting agent, alleging risks of opaque revenue arrangements and calling for urgent legislative safeguards before a new tax regime begins in January 2026.
In its statement, PRP National Chairman Falalu Bello described the MoU as a “reckless act” that, in the party’s view, amounts to outsourcing Nigeria’s tax data management framework to a foreign government.
The PRP argued that any arrangement that allows external entities significant influence over tax systems could weaken the country’s economic independence and policy autonomy.
Bello said the party did not accept assurances that Nigerian taxpayer data would remain under local control until the full contents of the MoU are made public.
“Despite the public statement by the FIRS defending the MoU, our concerns and objections regarding the agreement remain fully valid until the content of the MoU is made public,” he said, insisting that the agreement could “relinquish control” of critical fiscal information if not carefully structured.
The PRP further warned that access to real-time tax and sectoral data could give France an undue advantage in trade, investment and loan negotiations with Nigeria.
“Any nation that cedes control of its tax data to foreign entities risks becoming a puppet in the global financial system,” the party said, adding that such dependency could undermine efforts to design policies that prioritise domestic development.
On domestic arrangements, the PRP questioned the FIRS decision to appoint Xpress Payment Solutions Limited as a TSA collecting agent, citing concerns about transparency, procurement processes and cost implications for the public purse.
The party warned that, in its view, the arrangement risked replicating what it described as a “dangerous model” of revenue cartels it said had previously operated at subnational level.
Civil society organisations and opposition parties have been urged by the PRP to resist what it called “dangerous precedents” and to press for greater legislative oversight of tax technology and data-sharing agreements.
Bello called on the National Assembly to enact data sovereignty safeguards and to scrutinise the selection of private payment firms involved in government revenue collection.
The African Democratic Congress has also raised alarm over the FIRS–France MoU, demanding full disclosure of the agreement and warning it could expose strategic economic information to foreign exploitation, according to a statement by party spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi.
Abdullahi said expert reviews shared with the party had flagged “overwhelming concern” about potential risks to Nigeria’s data security and urged the government to explain what benefits France expects from the deal.
The ADC criticised what it described as inadequate public consultation and limited engagement with the National Assembly before the agreement was signed.
It called for the immediate publication of the MoU or its termination, a stance the Northern Elders Forum has echoed in separate interventions that linked the issue to broader worries about national sovereignty.
In response, the FIRS has defended the agreement, describing it as a standard international cooperation framework aimed at advisory support, knowledge sharing and capacity building in tax administration.
The agency said the MoU does not grant France access to Nigerian tax systems or individual taxpayer records and that it complies with national data protection laws.
A statement signed by Aderonke Atoyebi, Technical Assistant on Broadcast Media to the FIRS Executive Chairman, said the deal would help modernise tax processes without sidelining local technology and payment firms.
“The agreement focusses on strengthening institutional capacity and does not hand over control of government revenue systems to any foreign partner,” the statement said.
On the role of Xpress Payment Solutions, the FIRS rejected claims of monopoly or exclusivity, saying it uses a multichannel revenue collection framework.
The agency listed other platforms it works with, including Quickteller, Remita, Etranzact, Flutterwave and XpressPay, and said no single private entity controls federal revenue collection.
The PRP has urged the National Assembly to hold hearings on both the FIRS–France agreement and the appointment of Xpress Payment Solutions, and to examine whether the arrangements meet constitutional and procurement requirements.
The FIRS, for its part, continue to maintain that the MoU aligns with Nigeria’s legal framework and international best practices, and that its collaboration with multiple payment platforms prevents any single company from dominating the TSA system.
