Northern elders demand immediate termination of FIRS-France tax MoU

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

63% : The Federal Inland Revenue Service had signed the Memorandum of Understanding with France's tax authority on December 10, 2025, to enhance digital tax administration.
61% : "It is a direct, unprotected gateway into the heart of Nigeria's tax infrastructure, placing our most sensitive economic data into the hands of a foreign power whose engagements across Africa have historically led to economic manipulation, political pressure and strategic domination.
60% : The letter, signed by the NEF spokesperson, Prof Abubakar Jiddere, stated that the agreement goes beyond technical cooperation and represents what the group termed "an unprotected gateway into the heart of Nigeria's tax infrastructure".
51% : " The forum referenced a warning by Dr Segun Adebayo, a national advocate on data protection and fiscal independence, who, according to the statement, had cautioned against such arrangements in a keynote address titled Protecting Our Tax Sovereignty and during subsequent engagements at the National Assembly.
49% : The Northern Elders Forum, on Sunday, called for the immediate termination of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the French tax authority, Direction Générale des Finances Publiques.
48% : "Yesterday's signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the French tax authority, Direction Générale des Finances Publiques, is not a harmless technical collaboration.
48% : According to the forum, surrendering control of tax data exposes Nigeria to economic espionage, mass surveillance and potential geopolitical blackmail, as foreign actors could gain insight into strategic sectors, revenue flows and investment patterns.
48% : However, FIRS has maintained that the partnership is strictly a technical assistance and capacity-building framework, insisting that it does not compromise Nigeria's tax data sovereignty or operational control, and that only aggregated and anonymised data would be shared.
43% : The forum also criticised what it described as a failure to protect Nigeria's local technology ecosystem, noting that Nigerian-owned firms have built globally respected fintech and digital payment platforms capable of managing the country's tax infrastructure.
43% : Among its demands, the NEF called on the Federal Government and the National Assembly to terminate the FIRS-France MoU immediately; ensure Nigeria's tax data remains fully under Nigerian control; engage only Nigerian-owned technology companies to build and manage tax infrastructure; reintroduce and pass all data-sovereignty amendments before the Nigeria Revenue Service begins operations in January 2026; and prohibit any foreign entity from processing or storing Nigeria's tax data.
39% : " The NEF said granting a foreign government access to Nigeria's tax data undermines the country's economic independence and places its fiscal future at risk.
38% : In an open letter addressed to the Federal Government, the Senate and the House of Representatives, the forum described the MoU as a "dangerous tax data agreement" capable of exposing Nigeria's most sensitive economic information to foreign control.

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