Northern Elders Demand Immediate Halt to FIRS-France Tax MoU, Warn of Threats to National Sovereignty

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has raised the alarm over the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and France’s tax authority, Direction Générale des Finances Publiques, calling for its immediate termination. The forum warned that the agreement could compromise Nigeria’s economic sovereignty and national security.

In an open letter addressed to the Federal Government, the Senate, and the House of Representatives on Sunday, NEF spokesperson Prof. Abubakar Jiddere described the deal as a “dangerous tax data agreement” that opens the country’s most sensitive financial information to foreign access.

“The MoU goes beyond technical cooperation,” the letter stated. “It represents an unprotected gateway into Nigeria’s tax infrastructure, placing critical economic data in the hands of a foreign government whose engagements across Africa have often led to economic manipulation and political interference.”

The elders noted that Africa’s experience with French influence has frequently resulted in long-term dependency and economic setbacks. They warned that Nigeria risks repeating the mistakes of other nations if it allows France access to its tax data, especially at a time when the country is grappling with insecurity, a fragile currency, and rising unemployment.

“The FIRS–France deal is not aid; it is an entry into our economic bloodstream,” Jiddere said. “Nigeria must not surrender control of its fiscal systems under the guise of technical collaboration.”

NEF also highlighted that Nigeria already has capable local technology firms capable of managing tax systems without foreign intervention. They criticised legislative gaps that allowed the MoU to be signed without parliamentary scrutiny and urged lawmakers to pass data-sovereignty amendments before FIRS begins full operations in January 2026.

The forum called on the Federal Government and the National Assembly to: terminate the FIRS–France MoU, ensure Nigeria’s tax data remains fully under national control, engage only Nigerian technology firms for tax infrastructure, and prohibit foreign entities from storing or processing Nigeria’s tax information.

“The Northern Elders Forum will oppose this deal with every moral, civic, and constitutional tool available,” the statement read. “This is no longer a policy issue—it is a matter of national survival.”

FIRS signed the MoU with the French tax authority on December 10, 2025, saying the agreement is aimed at enhancing digital tax administration through AI-powered audits, automated compliance systems, and real-time analytics. The agency insists the partnership is strictly technical, claiming that only aggregated and anonymised data would be shared, and that Nigeria retains operational control.