FIRS, France Tax MoU Threat To Nat’l Security, Says Northern Elders

The elders warned that France’s historical engagements in Africa have often resulted in economic manipulation, po­litical pressure and long-term dependency, urging Nigeria not to repeat what they described as past mistakes made by other Af­rican nations.

Jiddere added, “Wherever its influence has settled, African countries have fought for decades to reclaim economic indepen­dence.

“Several nations after long periods of economic sabotage, extractive policies, and political interference pushed France out of their internal systems because they realised too late the price of dependency.

“Nigeria must not walk into the same trap with open eyes. With insecurity ravaging our communities, with the naira under pressure, with unemploy­ment high, and with foreign in­terests circling Nigeria’s digital infrastructure, this is not the time to mortgage our national pride or hand over our economic soul to any foreign state.

“The FIRS-France deal is not aid. It is an entry. Entry into our economic bloodstream.

“Dr. Segun Adebayo, a respect­ed national voice on data protec­tion and fiscal independence, warned the nation months ago clearly and publicly of his key­note address ‘Protecting Our Tax Sovereignty’ and subsequent engagements at the National As­sembly.

“Taxpayer data is national power. Allowing foreign control over this data is a threat to nation­al security.”

According to the Forum, sur­rendering control of tax data exposes the country to econom­ic espionage, mass surveillance and potential geo-political black­mail, as foreign actors could gain insight into Nigeria’s strategic sectors, revenue flows and in­vestment patterns, adding that “no serious country hands such power to another state.”

The Forum also criticised what it described as a failure to protect Nigeria’s local technolo­gy ecosystem, noting that Nige­rian-owned companies have built globally respected fintech and dig­ital payment platforms.

The Northern Elders further blamed the development on what they called legislative lapses, ar­guing that proposed data-sover­eignty amendments to existing laws could have prevented the MoU without parliamentary scrutiny.

Issuing what it described as a final warning, the Forum said Nigeria must not replace colonial­ism with “digital colonialism” or economic occupation disguised as cooperation.

As part of its demands, the NEF called on the Federal Gov­ernment and the National As­sembly to “terminate the FIRS– France MoU immediately; keep Nigeria’s tax data 100 percent in Nigerian hands; contract only Nigerian-owned technology com­panies to build and manage tax infrastructure.

“Reintroduce and pass all data-sovereignty amendments before the Nigeria Revenue Ser­vice begins operations in Janu­ary 2026; and prohibit any foreign entity from processing or storing Nigeria’s tax data.

“The Northern Elders Forum will oppose this deal with every moral, civic and constitutional tool available,” the statement said, urging the president, the Nation­al Assembly and Nigerians to act swiftly.