Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president, has called on the federal government to immediately halt the appointment of Xpress Payments Solutions Limited as the new Treasury Single Account collecting agent until the public can examine the procedure that led to the firm’s selection.
He characterised the appointment as a “dangerous resurrection” of the Alpha Beta revenue cartel, which he claimed held sway during the administration of Bola Tinubu as governor of Lagos State, in a statement posted on his verified X handle, #atiku, on Sunday. He claimed that the system established using Alpha Beta to collect taxes for Lagos State transferred public funds to private accounts at the expense of the general populace.
According to the statement available to BrandSpur Nigeria news: “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” it added.
The former Vice President went on to say that it was insensitive to implement such a policy at a time when insecurity was increasing. He said: “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.”
Noting that there was no legislative input, he also questioned the procedure that resulted in Xpress Payments’ involvement. He stated: “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,” he added.
Continuing, he demanded that government operations be more transparent, saying: “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 pushed for the: “Immediate suspension of the Xpress Payments appointment pending a public inquiry,” and “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.”
“A 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,” he added.
Furthering, he had this to say: “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.”
About the Treasury Single Account
A public finance reform project called the Treasury Single Account aims to reduce leaks and increase transparency by combining government revenue into a single account. The World Bank for Nigeria first suggested the policy in 2004, but it wasn’t until the Goodluck Jonathan administration ordered all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to start partial compliance in 2012 that it was put into effect at the federal level.
After President Muhammadu Buhari directed all federal revenue-generating entities to transfer profits to the TSA, which is headquartered at the Central Bank of Nigeria, full implementation got underway in 2015.
Before the reform, MDAs kept thousands of bank accounts in commercial banks, which allowed public funds to be diverted, postponed remittances, and made it challenging to conduct effective oversight. By guaranteeing real-time monitoring of government inflows, lowering borrowing costs, and enhancing overall fiscal discipline, the TSA was established to close these gaps.
Although there are ongoing discussions regarding the involvement of private companies in the system’s operation and the openness of related procurement procedures, the system has been credited with strengthening controls over federal revenue since it was implemented.
