Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government of attempting to “nationalise” what he described as the “Lagos-style revenue cartel” through the appointment of Xpress Payments Solutions Limited as a new Treasury Single Account (TSA) collecting agent.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Atiku said the decision, which was made “quietly” and without consultation, represented “a dangerous resurrection” of the Alpha Beta revenue collecting agency in Lagos State.
“The quiet appointment of Xpress Payments Solutions Limited as a new TSA collecting agent is not an administrative decision, it is a dangerous resurrection of the Alpha Beta revenue cartel that dominated Lagos State during and after the Tinubu years,” he said.
According to the former Vice President, the move goes beyond an administrative decision and poses a serious threat to national accountability.
“That model created a private toll gate around public revenue and funnelled state funds into the hands of a politically connected monopoly,” Atiku said.
“What we are witnessing now is the attempt to nationalise that same template, moving Nigeria from a republic to a private holding company controlled by a small circle of vested interests.”
He criticised the timing of the appointment, describing it as “insensitive” and “a deliberate act of governance by stealth” introduced while Nigerians were mourning loved ones lost to worsening insecurity across the country.
“When a nation is grieving, leadership should show empathy and focus on securing lives, not on expanding private revenue pipelines,” he said.
The 2023 presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) raised several questions about the appointment, asking why it was “rushed and smuggled into the public space without consultation, stakeholder engagement, or National Assembly oversight.”
“What value does Xpress Payments add that existing TSA channels do not already provide? Who truly benefits from this? Nigeria or an entrenched political network?” he queried.
Describing the move as “state capture masquerading as digital innovation,” the former Vice President argued that Nigeria does not need “more middlemen between citizens and their government revenue,” but rather “greater transparency, stronger institutions, and a tax system free from political capture.”
Atiku called for an immediate suspension of the Xpress Payments appointment pending a public inquiry, as well as full disclosure of the contractual terms, beneficiaries, fee structures, and selection criteria.
He also urged for a comprehensive audit of the TSA system to “prevent the creeping privatisation of revenue collection”and demanded a legal framework to “prohibit the insertion of private proxies into core government revenue systems.”
“Nigeria’s revenues are not political spoils. They are the lifeblood of our national survival, especially at a time when insecurity is tearing communities apart,” he said.
He concluded by urging the Tinubu administration to abandon the “Lagos-style revenue cartelisation” and return to the path of transparency, constitutionalism, and public accountability.
