Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described the quiet appointment of Xpress Payments Solutions Limited as a new TSA collecting agent as a dangerous resurrection of the Alpha Beta revenue cartel that dominated Lagos State during and after the Tinubu years.
Atiku in a post via his verified X handle called on the federal government to come clean with Nigerians.
He noted: “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.
“That model created a private toll gate around public revenue and funnelled state funds into the hands of a politically connected monopoly.
“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.”
Atiku stressed that to introduce such a policy in the middle of a national tragedy, while Nigerians are mourning loved ones lost to the deepening insecurity crisis, was not only insensitive, but a deliberate act of governance by stealth.
The former vice president said when a nation is grieving, leadership should show empathy and focus on securing lives, not on expanding private revenue pipelines.
He wondered why the appointment was rushed and smuggled into the public space without consultation, stakeholder engagement, or National Assembly oversight.
Atiku also queried what value Xpress Payments add that existing TSA channels do not already provide.
He added: “Nigeria does not need more middlemen between citizens and their government revenue. What we need is greater transparency, stronger institutions, and a tax system free from political capture.
“I therefore call for the following: Immediate suspension of the Xpress Payments appointment pending a public inquiry;
“Full disclosure of the contractual terms, beneficiaries, fee structures, and selection criteria; A comprehensive audit of TSA operations to prevent the creeping privatisation of revenue collection;
“A legal framework, not executive shortcuts, that prohibits the insertion of private proxies into core government revenue systems;
“A national security priority shift, recognising that a country under assault cannot afford economic governance conducted in the shadows.
“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.”
Atiku maintained that the government must abandon this Lagos-style revenue cartelisation and return to the path of transparency, constitutionalism, and public accountability.