Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called for the Immediate suspension of the appointment of Xpress Payment Solutions Limited as tax collecting agent of the Federal Government pending public inquiry.
Atiku who made the call in a post on his X handle on Sunday, also called for a full disclosure of the contractual terms, beneficiaries, fee structures, and selection criteria.
Recall that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) recently appointed the Xpress Payment Solutions Limited as one of its collecting agents under the Treasury Single Account (TSA) framework.
The appointment means that taxpayers using the FIRS TaxPro Max portal can now select Xpress Payment Solutions to remit their Company Income Tax (CIT), Valued Added Tax (VAT), and other FIRS-related payments.
Meanwhile, the former VP noted that the silent appointment of Xpress Payments Solutions Limited as a new TSA collecting agent was not an administrative decision, but a dangerous resurrection of the Alpha Beta revenue cartel that dominated Lagos State during and after the Tinubu years.
He explained that the model created a private toll gate around public revenue and funnelled state funds into the hands of a politically connected monopoly.
“What we are witnessing now is the attempt to nationalise that same template, moving Nigeria from a republic to a private holding company controlled by a small circle of vested interests.
“To introduce such a policy in the middle of a national tragedy, while Nigerians are mourning loved ones lost to the deepening insecurity crisis, is not only insensitive, it is a deliberate act of governance by stealth.
“When a nation is grieving, leadership should show empathy and focus on securing lives, not on expanding private revenue pipelines.
“This latest move raises fundamental questions: Why was this appointment rushed and smuggled into the public space without consultation, stakeholder engagement, or National Assembly oversight? What value does Xpress Payments add that existing TSA channels do not already provide? Who truly benefits from this? Nigeria or an entrenched political network?
“This is not reform. This is state capture masquerading as digital innovation. Let me be clear: Nigeria does not need more middlemen between citizens and their government revenue.
“What we need is greater transparency, stronger institutions, and a tax system free from political capture,” he said.
He therefore called for a comprehensive audit of TSA operations to prevent the creeping privatisation of revenue collection; A legal framework, not executive shortcuts, that prohibits the insertion of private proxies into core government revenue systems; and A national security priority shift, recognising that a country under assault cannot afford economic governance conducted in the shadows.
Atiku submitted that Nigeria’s revenues are not political spoils, but are lifeblood of the national survival, especially at a time when insecurity is tearing communities apart.
He concluded that the government must abandon the Lagos-style revenue cartelisation and return to the path of transparency, constitutionalism, and public accountability.
