Lagonisation of the federal revenue system
Lord Acton’s cliché—”Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”—warns that silence by good people allows corruption to take hold. The administrators of the Tinubu administration are using all the federal powers they have to colonise Nigeria’s revenue system—”Lagonisation” in full. It looks like they will not rest until this is achieved. The process […]
Lord Acton’s cliché—”Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”—warns that silence by good people allows corruption to take hold.
The administrators of the Tinubu administration are using all the federal powers they have to colonise Nigeria’s revenue system—”Lagonisation” in full. It looks like they will not rest until this is achieved. The process has begun with the quiet appointment of Xpress Payment Solutions Limited as one of the collecting agents of the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
Some may recall when the World Bank recommended the TSA as a public finance policy reform in 2004 under Obasanjo. The reform was to ensure transparency and block leakages by consolidating government revenues into a unified account. But it was not implemented until 2012 under Jonathan. But ultimately, the policy was mostly utilised under Buhari.
Quite worryingly, after all the effort of building the TSA to make it fit-for-purpose, the Tinubu administration seems hellbent on domesticating and channelling all operations to one favoured company. Let us not forget that Tinubu has been weakening the TSA policy by removing the FCT from it, even though there may be an argument that he copied from Buhari, who started the exemption of 13 agencies, including NNPC.
Yes, it was the former Vice President, Atiku, who blew the whistle on social media. He reminded Nigerians that “the quiet appointment of Xpress Payments Solutions Limited as a new TSA collecting agent is a dangerous resurrection of the Alpha Beta revenue cartel that dominated Lagos State during and after the Tinubu years” .
And this is true. The administrators of the Tinubu administration are taking advantage of the insecurity distraction in the country to sneak in policies without public knowledge. They argued that there are other competing firms alongside Xpress Payment Solutions Limited. But what they will not tell you is how the appointment of a Tinubu-affiliated company meets our public policy goals.
Public policy is guided by three central goals: efficiency, equity, and the integrity of the political process. Efficiency requires allocating resources to maximise output or, at best, minimise waste. Equity demands that opportunities are distributed fairly across society, particularly in a country with a geopolitical divide. The political process should ensure transparency, collective preferences and public acceptability in all government decisions.
Looking at these standards, one must be worried about the appointment of Xpress Payment Limited as a TSA agency. The company might be operationally capable, but its known links to President Tinubu risk compromising efficiency. There is a clear case of favouring political loyalty over merit. You also cannot deny that equity is compromised when national revenue and opportunities are channelled to a politically connected Lagos-linked firm. Competent providers have been excluded from the process. Similarly, the political process is equally weakened. As Atiku alleges, such an appointment lacked transparency. The FIRS did not consider public interests. It confirms that all decisions made under the Tinubu administration are designed to serve his Lagos network.
And whoever thinks the racketeering business will stop at TSA has not been following the Tinubu administration closely. The new tax laws have given them the chance to gain control of the national revenue system. By tax laws, I mean the Joint Revenue Board (JRB) Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) Act and the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTA), 2025. All three laws, passed this year, grant the respective agencies broad discretion to appoint agents or consultants to support their operations.
The JRB Act, 2025 — Section 11(3) permits the Board to “appoint consultants or agents … to transact any business … in the execution of its functions.” The NRS (Establishment) Act, 2025 — Section 5 authorises the Service to “engage relevant professional consultants, or agents to transact any business or to do any act required …” The NTA Act, 2025 — Section 68, 69 and 71 allows the relevant tax authority to assign a “third party … accredited by the relevant tax authority” to engage in various tasks, including collection and remitting taxes within or outside Nigeria.
On paper, this seems practical, but in reality, it opens the door to abuse. The laws set no clear limits on who qualifies as an agent. There is also no clear mandate for competitive selection or independent oversight. This is a loophole through which politically connected companies will be favoured under the guise of legality. But we cannot claim to be surprised. This happened right before our eyes.
But that’s not all. My prediction is that these sorts of companies will become Nigeria’s major borrowers in the near future. Given our persistent borrowing from local and international agencies, Nigeria may lose its global creditworthiness, especially if we factor in our security challenges. This government might consider using a back channel through its Lagos cronies to borrow on behalf of the country. We have seen scenarios in which they used personal companies to build coastal highways with money, N15 trillion, which we do not have.
Some may wonder how that might happen. They can grant a favoured company exclusive access to Nigeria’s bond market, as they did with Alpha Beta in Lagos or with other Chagoury Group companies; it could become the de facto sole buyer of Treasury bills and government bonds. Under political protection, competing brokers and banks would be sidelined. They will become a quasi-public-private cartel. The company will have sole control over pricing, allocation, and settlement—a monopoly that would distort bond yields and disrupt liquidity as politically connected clients gain priority access. They will enrich themselves through transaction fees and privileged information.
But the intent here is not to predict. It is a warning call. Those who remember history will recall the peak of Mobutu’s reign. In 1982, an IMF official report noted that there was “no… chance on the horizon for Zaire’s numerous creditors to get their money back” due to the regime’s corruption and diversion of funds. This is what Nigerians must work to avoid.
This is not a case of “I told you so” or “I was the first to blow the whistle.” No. This is a dangerous moment in Nigeria’s economic path, where our revenue stream is being tied to a single individual—more like a Treasury Single Individual Account. As citizens, this must not be allowed to happen.