Tinubu’s ‘Revenue Cartel’ Returns as FIRS Appoints Xpress Payments to Collect Federal Taxes Amid Allegations of National Revenue Monopoly

President Bola Tinubu’s government is facing political scrutiny following the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) appointment of a new collecting agent, with allegations that the move risks replicating a controversial Lagos-style revenue system at the federal level. This decision could effectively turn Nigeria’s public revenue apparatus into a “private holding company” controlled by politically connected interests.

The controversy centres on Xpress Payment Solutions Limited, a leading Nigerian financial technology firm, recently appointed as a Collecting Agent under the Treasury Single Account (TSA) framework. While the company celebrates the partnership as a milestone showcasing its innovation and reliability, Atiku describe it as a “dangerous resurrection of the Alpha-Beta revenue cartel” that once dominated Lagos State revenue collection.

Alpha-Beta Consulting, the Lagos-based firm at the centre of past controversies, was responsible for computing, tracking, and reconciling the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in return for commissions. In 2020, chartered accountant Dapo Apara, claiming a 30% stake in the firm, filed a writ of summons at a Lagos High Court, accusing Tinubu, Alpha-Beta, and former commissioner Akin Doherty of money laundering, fraud, tax evasion, and other corrupt practices.

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Apara alleged that Tinubu had directed and controlled the firm’s operations, diverting assets for personal gain, orchestrating a structural change to shield his involvement from public scrutiny, and using the company as a vehicle for extensive corruption, including bribery, fund diversion, and political extortion. He further claimed that attempts to investigate the firm were met with threats, intimidation, and interference in official investigations.

Senator Bode George has demanded transparency over the actual ownership of Alpha-Beta and questioned the enormous sums of money associated with Tinubu. The FIRS appointment of Xpress Payment Solutions, which allows taxpayers to remit statutory payments via XpressPay online or e-Cashier at bank branches, has been criticised as an attempt to nationalise the Lagos template, effectively creating a “private toll gate around public revenue” and transferring control of national funds to a small circle of politically entrenched interests.

The decision was rushed, bypassing consultation, stakeholder engagement, and National Assembly oversight. An immediate suspension of the Xpress Payments appointment pending a public inquiry is required, with full disclosure of contractual terms, beneficiaries, and fee structures. National revenue is the “lifeblood of our national survival,” not a source of political spoils, and should not repeat the Lagos-style model cartelization at the federal level.

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