The Federal Inland Revenue Service has rejected allegations by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that the appointment of Xpress Payments as a tax payment channel was driven by politics. The agency described the claim as misleading and warned that such remarks could distort public understanding of how Nigeria’s tax system works.
Key Highlights:
The Federal Inland Revenue Service dismisses Atiku’s claim of political interference.
The agency says no company has exclusive rights to federal revenue channels.
All payments made through PSSPs go directly to the Federation Account.
Multiple service providers, including Remita and Flutterwave, remain active.
FIRS says the onboarding process is competitive and transparent.
The agency warns against politicising ongoing national tax reforms.
Atiku had accused the Federal Government of granting a monopoly to Xpress Payments for tax collections. In a response issued on Sunday, Aderonke Atoyebi, the Technical Assistant on Broadcast Media to the FIRS Chairman, said the accusation misrepresented the facts and risked turning a straightforward administrative matter into a political quarrel.
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Atoyebi explained that the service relies on several Payment Solution Service Providers, including Quickteller, Remita, Etranzact, Flutterwave and XpressPay. She stressed that no company holds exclusive rights to any federal revenue channel. She also noted that PSSPs do not collect or retain government funds, as all payments made through the platforms go straight into the Federation Account without diversion or private control.
She added that the system was designed to prevent dominance by any single operator, improve accountability and help the financial technology sector grow. According to her, onboarding of payment service providers follows a transparent and competitive process that ensures fairness across the market.
Atoyebi argued that the former Vice President’s allegations were unnecessary at a time when the country was pushing ahead with broad tax reforms under the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms. Atiku had earlier claimed that Xpress Payments was favoured due to political ties, warning that the alleged arrangement could weaken public trust.
