In accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, the Impacthive Centre for Accountability, Democracy and Rights (ICADAR) has requested the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to furnish it with a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently signed between the agency and Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP), the tax authority in France.

In a letter addressed to the Executive Chairman of FIRS, the civil society organisation also requested to be furnished with the procedure followed in the appointment of Xpress Payment Solutions Limited as a Treasury Single Account (TSA) collecting agent.

Additionally, the CSO requests information on the persons behind Xpress Payment Solutions Limited and the percentage of revenue that Xpress Payment Solutions Limited is authorised to collect for their services.

According to the letter signed by Dr Bello Ishaq, Executive Director of ICADAR, all the requested information is to be provided within seven (7) working days from the date of receipt of the letter:

It would be recalled that since the FIRS sealed the deal, there have been protests from critics and analysts across the country. For instance, the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) kicked against the Memorandum of Understanding(MoU)  between the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the French Directorate Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFP) on digital transformation and information exchange, as well as the appointment of Xpress Payment Solutions Limited as the official  Treasury Single Account (TSA)  collecting agent of the Federal Government revenue in Nigeria.

The opposition party expressed  “serious reservations and condemns both actions,” describing the signing of the  MoU with DGFP as a reckless act of outsourcing Nigeria’s tax data management to a foreign government.

According to the party, such a pact poses grave threats to Nigeria’s sovereignty, economy, and national security.