FIRS Counters Atiku Over Revenue Platform Claims

The Federal Inland Revenue Service has pushed back against Atiku Abubakar’s criticism of its decision to onboard Xpress Payment Solutions Limited as part of the Treasury Single Account revenue collection system.

The agency said the former vice president’s comments were wrong and could turn a routine administrative process into a political dispute.

The response came in a statement issued by Arabinrin Aderonke Atoyebi, Technical Assistant on Broadcast Media to the FIRS Executive Chairman. She said Atiku’s suggestion that the move was designed to recreate a revenue cartel was unfounded and did not reflect how the system works.

The FIRS explained that no company has exclusive control over federal revenue collection. Instead, the TSA system runs on a multi-channel framework involving several established payment platforms such as Quickteller, Remita, Etranzact, Flutterwave and XpressPay. The agency said this approach gives taxpayers more options and prevents any platform from dominating the process.

The agency added that payment service providers are not revenue collectors and do not receive commissions or percentages from government funds. All payments, it said, go straight into the Federation Account without diversion or private handling.

According to the FIRS, onboarding multiple platforms encourages innovation, competition and growth within the financial technology sector. It said each platform is admitted through a transparent procedure that ensures equal opportunity and strengthens monitoring and reporting of payments.

The agency linked the reforms to the work of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, describing the changes as part of wider efforts to modernise the economy. It said the reforms rely on transparency and broad consultation and should not be turned into partisan arguments.

The FIRS called on Atiku and other political leaders to avoid framing normal administrative processes as political controversies and reaffirmed its commitment to professional and open revenue management.