The Bloggers and Vloggers, Content Creators Association in Nigeria (BAVCCA) has thrown its weight behind the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), offering detailed clarification on how the Treasury Single Account (TSA) payment system operates following recent allegations by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Addressing journalists at an emergency press conference in Abuja, the BAVCCA National President, Ikechukwu Chukwunyere, said the association was compelled to intervene because Atiku’s claims about the onboarding of Xpress Payment Solutions Limited as a Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) reflected a misunderstanding of Nigeria’s multi-channel revenue system.
He noted that Atiku’s assertion that the development signaled “a dangerous attempt to resurrect the discredited Alpha Beta–style revenue collection model” misrepresented how the TSA currently functions.
According to him, Nigeria operates a transparent, open PSSP ecosystem with platforms such as Remita, Quickteller, Etranzact, Flutterwave, Payarena, Interswitch, XpressPay and several others working alongside one another without any monopoly.
Chukwunyere stated: “This claim is not only factually incorrect but a dangerous distortion designed to incite public distrust in Nigeria’s tax institutions at a time when the country is undertaking bold and necessary tax reforms.”
He aligned the association’s position with the formal explanation earlier provided by the FIRS, stressing that none of the PSSPs involved in tax payment processing receives a percentage of government revenue or any processing fee.
All payments, he added, go directly into the Federation Account under the TSA framework, eliminating room for revenue diversion or private collection arrangements.
Quoting the FIRS statement verbatim, he said: “The FIRS does not operate any exclusive or single-gateway revenue-collection arrangement, and no private entity has been granted a monopoly over government revenues… This reform has come to stay and should not be dragged into partisan controversy.”
He explained that the onboarding of XpressPay followed due process and represented a continuation of Nigeria’s shift away from single-gateway dominance toward greater efficiency and convenience.
Chukwunyere added that BAVCCA “fully endorses this position,” noting that transparency in the revenue system remains essential to strengthening public confidence.
