Nigeria is once again at the center of a storm as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) signs a controversial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with France’s Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFP). The move, which the government claims is about “digital transformation” and “information exchange,” has sparked fierce backlash from opposition parties and civil society, who see it as a blatant threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty and economic independence.

The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) didn’t mince words. In a dramatic statement from Abuja, PRP National Chairman Falalu Bello slammed the MoU as a “reckless act of outsourcing Nigeria’s tax data management to a foreign government.” According to Bello, this agreement could have catastrophic consequences for Nigeria’s autonomy and control over its own finances. He outright dismissed FIRS’s assurances that no taxpayer data would be handed over to France, demanding full disclosure of the MoU’s contents before any trust can be restored.

PRP’s warning is clear: foreign-controlled digital systems could open the floodgates to surveillance, data exploitation, and even economic sabotage. The party claims that giving up control of tax data to outsiders is a recipe for disaster, making Nigeria a “puppet in the global financial system.”

Bello went further, accusing President Bola Tinubu’s administration of pushing a “neo-colonialist agenda” and insisting that only local tech firms like Flutterwave, PayStack, and Interswitch should be trusted with Nigeria’s tax reforms and digital transformation. He called for the immediate cancellation of the MoU, warning that France could use access to Nigeria’s tax data as leverage in future trade and investment deals.

The controversy doesn’t stop there. The PRP also raised eyebrows over the appointment of Xpress Payment Solutions Limited as a Treasury Single Account (TSA) revenue-collecting agent, questioning the transparency of the process and warning of a return to the “dangerous model” of revenue cartels seen in Lagos State. The party is demanding urgent action from the National Assembly to enact data-sovereignty laws and investigate the Xpress Payment Solutions deal.

Other opposition voices are piling on. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has joined the chorus, demanding the immediate publication or termination of the FIRS–France agreement. ADC spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi cited “overwhelming concern” from experts that the deal could expose Nigeria’s strategic economic information to foreign exploitation. The ADC also blasted FIRS for failing to explain what France stands to gain and for bypassing public consultation and legislative oversight. The Northern Elders Forum echoed these demands, adding even more pressure on the government.

In a predictable move, the FIRS has tried to downplay the uproar, insisting the MoU is just a “standard international cooperation framework” and that France will not have access to Nigerian tax systems or individual data. The agency claims it is working with multiple local payment platforms and that no single company controls government revenue collection. But critics aren’t buying it, saying the real issues of transparency, data sovereignty, and procurement integrity remain unresolved.

As the scandal grows, the debate over the FIRS–France MoU and the Xpress Payment Solutions appointment is raising serious questions about Nigeria’s digital future and who really controls the country’s most sensitive data. With opposition parties, civil society, and elder statesmen all demanding answers, the Tinubu administration faces mounting pressure to come clean and put Nigeria’s interests first.