The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called for transparency in the digital tax cooperation agreement recently signed between Nigeria and France.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, made the call in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, expressing concern over the details and implications of the agreement.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) recently signed a cooperation pact with the French government, aimed at modernising Nigeria’s tax administration through digital transformation, capacity development and improved cross-border enforcement.
The agreement comes weeks ahead of the planned transition of the FIRS into the Nigeria Revenue Service by January 2026.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by the Chairman of FIRS, Dr Zacch Adedeji, and the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Marc Fonbaustier, on behalf of both countries.
Adedeji had said the partnership symbolised a shared ambition to build “stronger, more resilient and forward-looking” tax systems at a time when global public finance was being reshaped by technology, artificial intelligence and cross-border digital commerce.
However, Abdullahi urged the FIRS to either make the full details of the agreement public or terminate the deal.
While acknowledging the need to modernise Nigeria’s tax system, he raised concerns about transparency, national sovereignty, data protection and the process adopted in reaching the agreement.
Abdullahi said reviews had indicated that the digital tax deal could pose risks to Nigeria’s data security and expose sensitive economic information.
He argued that tax agreements were essentially business decisions, questioning what France stood to gain and why Nigeria would enter into such a sensitive arrangement without engagement or approval from the National Assembly.
The ADC spokesman also noted France’s waning influence in the West African sub-region and questioned the rationale for entering into a strategic agreement with the country.
He further queried the preference for foreign partnerships despite the availability of strong local capacity, stressing that tax reforms should strengthen institutions, safeguard sovereignty and protect national data.
Abdullahi, therefore, called on the FIRS to publish the agreement, brief the National Assembly, conduct independent assessments of data protection and cybersecurity risks, or terminate the deal if necessary.