In a digital age where data is the new oil, Nigeria’s decision to open a window, however small, into its tax ecosystem has triggered a fierce national debate about who truly controls the country’s economic intelligence.
At the centre of the storm is a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and France’s Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP), signed on December 10 to modernise tax administration through advanced digital tools.
The agreement promises access to AI-powered audits, automated compliance systems and real-time economic analytics designed to strengthen Nigeria’s revenue collection and curb illicit financial flows.
But for critics, the technology comes with uncomfortable questions about data sovereignty, fiscal independence and foreign influence over Africa’s largest economy.
FIRS insists the fears are misplaced. The agency says only aggregated and anonymised economic data will be shared, with no raw taxpayer information leaving Nigeria.
“The MoU does not grant France access to Nigerian taxpayers’ data, digital systems or operational infrastructure,” FIRS said in a statement, describing the pact as a “standard, globally recognised cooperation framework” focused on technical assistance and capacity building.
According to the tax authority, all Nigerian data protection and cybersecurity laws remain fully in force, and the agreement is advisory and “entirely under Nigeria’s control.” FIRS added that similar partnerships are common globally and are aimed at knowledge exchange rather than data extraction.
Yet sceptics remain unconvinced. Opposition voices, civil society groups and regional elders argue that even aggregated data can expose sensitive economic patterns.
“Allowing a foreign power into our tax architecture is effectively giving them a dashboard on our economy,” one commentator warned on X. Another added that once such data leaves the country, “we can’t get it back, putting our national economic sovereignty at risk.”
The controversy has drawn in the Northern Elders Forum and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), both of which have called for the MoU to be suspended or fully disclosed to the public.
The ADC said the deal potentially endangers Nigeria’s data security and questioned what France stands to gain from the arrangement.
The timing has only intensified scrutiny. France is recalibrating its role in West Africa after withdrawing troops from several countries amid rising anti-French sentiment, shifting instead toward economic, intelligence and technical cooperation.
Against this backdrop, critics see the tax MoU as part of a broader strategy to retain influence in the region.
For Nigeria, the challenge is clear: modernising its tax system without surrendering control over the data that underpins its economic sovereignty.
As the debate rages, the MoU has become a defining test of how African states balance digital transformation with national autonomy.
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