TSA Revenue: Atiku tackles FIRS, says engaging ‘middlemen secretly’ in tax collection is ‘Lagos cartel style’ in days of Tinubu as governor

The former Vice President and opposition figure, Atiku Abubakar has expressed his discontent with the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, accusing the agency of secretly engaging middlemen in tax collection.

He was emphatic that the appointment of Xpress Payments Solutions Limited as a new Treasury Single Accounts (TSA) collecting agent be cancelled immediately.

The former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in 2023 general election expressed his disapproval, noting that the process was shrouded in secrecy and lacking consultation for such a strategic engagement.

He accused the National Assembly of failing to carry out their oversight, even when stakeholders were also not consulted by the FIRS.

According to him, the engagement was amid tragic incidents, insisting that the FIRS was insensitive to the happenings in Nigeria.

He called for public inquiry in the engagement of the Xpress Payments, insisting that the appointment should be suspended pending a full disclosure of the contractual terms, beneficiaries, fee structures, and selection criteria.

Atiku noted that “Nigeria does not need more middlemen between citizens and their government revenue.”

In a statement he made available to journalists on Sunday, he said: “The Federal Government. The quiet appointment of Xpress Payments Solutions Limited as a new TSA collecting agent is not an administrative decision, it is a dangerous resurrection of the Alpha Beta revenue cartel that dominated Lagos State during and after the Tinubu years.

“That 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.

“I therefore call for the following:
” Immediate suspension of the Xpress Payments appointment pending a public inquiry; full disclosure of the contractual terms, beneficiaries, fee structures, and selection criteria; a comprehensive audit of TSA operations to prevent the creeping privatisation of revenue collection; legal framework, not executive shortcuts, that prohibits the insertion of private proxies into core government revenue systems; a national security priority shift, recognising that a country under assault cannot afford economic governance conducted in the shadows.

“Nigeria’s revenues are not political spoils. They are the lifeblood of our national survival, especially at a time when insecurity is tearing communities apart.

“The government must abandon this Lagos-style revenue cartelisation and return to the path of transparency, constitutionalism, and public accountability.”