The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Sunday defended its recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with France’s Direction Générale des Finances Publiques, amid concerns raised by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) over potential threats to Nigeria’s tax data sovereignty.
In a statement, FIRS emphasised that the agreement is a globally recognised technical cooperation framework focused solely on capacity building and knowledge transfer. The agency dismissed claims suggesting that Nigerian taxpayer data or digital tax systems would be handed over to France.
“The MoU does not provide France with access to Nigerian taxpayer records, operational systems, or any part of our infrastructure,” FIRS stated. “All existing Nigerian laws on data protection, cybersecurity, and sovereignty remain fully in force. Like its predecessor, the Nigeria Revenue Service prioritises national security and maintains strict protocols for safeguarding taxpayer information.”
The agency also reassured that local technology providers remain central to Nigeria’s tax operations. “FIRS and the emerging Nigeria Revenue Service continue to collaborate with Nigerian innovators such as NIBSS, Interswitch, PayStack, and Flutterwave,” the statement added.
The Northern Elders Forum, however, had called for the MoU’s immediate termination, describing it as a “dangerous tax data agreement” that could jeopardise Nigeria’s economic and national security. In an open letter to the Federal Government, Senate, and House of Representatives, NEF spokesperson Prof. Abubakar Jiddere warned that the MoU could give foreign actors undue access to Nigeria’s critical tax infrastructure.
“The Northern Elders Forum writes with deep concern and patriotic duty,” the letter read. “Nigeria faces a crossroads where its economic sovereignty, national security, and independence are at risk. Signing this MoU with France is not a neutral technical exercise; it exposes sensitive economic information to a foreign power with a history of exerting influence across Africa.”
NEF cautioned that foreign access to tax data could lead to economic espionage, surveillance, and geopolitical manipulation, providing outsiders insight into strategic revenue flows, investments, and fiscal planning. The forum also raised concerns over legislative gaps that, in their view, allowed the MoU to proceed without parliamentary scrutiny.
The group demanded that the Federal Government and National Assembly terminate the FIRS–France MoU immediately, ensure all tax data remains under Nigerian control, contract only Nigerian-owned technology firms for tax infrastructure, and implement data-sovereignty measures before the Nigeria Revenue Service becomes fully operational in January 2026.
FIRS reiterated that the MoU, signed on December 10, 2025, grants Nigeria access to advanced tools such as AI-driven audits, automated compliance systems, and real-time analytics while only sharing aggregated and anonymised data. The agency insisted that the partnership is strictly for technical support and capacity building and does not compromise Nigeria’s operational control or data sovereignty.
