Tag Archives: TSA

Kemi Adeosun: Cost of operating TSA is not sustainable but it’s here to stay.

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Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, says the cost of operating the treasury single account (TSA) centrally, is not sustainable.

Describing the TSA as an important reform of the current administration, she maintained that the policy had come to stay.

The minister said government was working to separate agencies which should bear the cost and the ones that government should be responsible for.

She added that efforts were in place to improve the implementation and functionality of the TSA “because of its huge benefits”.

She spok at a retreat in Abuja.

“One of the challenges that we have is who should bear the cost of the TSA? Currently, it is being borne centrally, but that is not sustainable,” she said.

“We are now working on how to stratify the various agencies. Those who should bear their own costs and costs that should be borne by the government. This will be rolled out in this year.

“There are still funds in commercial banks and we have written to the banks, giving them a window to come forward. Where in doubt, they have been asked to consult us.

“We also have an audit team that has started the process of checking the completeness of monies that were transferred into the TSA and already, they have been able to recover a significant amount of money.

“The policy allows us to manage our treasury functions with far more accuracy than what we had in the past. There is still a long way to go but overall, we are very satisfied with the progress we have made and we look forward to it being extended and utilised far more as the year goes on.”

“So far, we’ve moved N5.24trn into TSA” – AGF Ali Ahmed Idris

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Ali Ahmed Idris, the accountant-general of the federation, on Tuesday, said a total sum of N5.24trn had been “mopped up” into the treasury single account (TSA).

Idris also disclosed that over 20,000 accounts with deposit money banks belonging to ministries, departments and agencies have been closed down since the inception of the TSA.

Idris made this known while speaking at the opening session of a two-day retreat on TSA.

The government began the implementation of the TSA in September 2015 to unify all its accounts by ensuring that all funds belonging to the federal government are saved with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The accountant-general said the introduction of TSA had recorded significant improvement in the management of public finances.

He said: “The TSA journey started way back in April 2012. That journey could not see the light of the day as no significant gains were recorded largely due to the lack of political will.

“However, the issuance of TSA circular in August, 2015, coupled with the political will and enforcement, enabled us to achieve considerable progress on the TSA implementation.

“As at the 10th of February,2017, the total inflow of funds through the mop-up and direct debits by the Central Bank of Nigeria amounted to N5.24trn.

“We have successfully eliminated multiple banking arrangements, resulting into consolidation of over 20,000 bank accounts, which were spread over Deposit Money Banks across the country.

“This has further brought about transparency and effective tracking of government revenues.”

TSA stalling varsities’ research – ASUU

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The Treasury Single Account (TSA), introduced by the Federal Government to check corruption in the system, is stalling research in the universities, according to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Exempting the universities from the TSA is among the demands of ASUU, whose members embarked on a one-week warning strike on Wednesday, Nov. 21.

According to its National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, other demands include the payment of Earned Academic Allowances, effective funding of the universities, an end to the payment of fractions of salaries to some institutions, among others.

Ogunyemi has already warned that ASUU would embark on an indefinte strike after the warning strike, if their demands were not met.

Speaking specifically on the TSA, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Dr. Christopher Piwuna, Chairman, Jos chapter of the union, said that the policy was of utmost concern to the universities because it was impeding their core mandate – research and breakthroughs.

“The TSA is a good policy, but its bottlenecks are too much,” Piwuna told our correspondent on Sunday in Jos.

“International and corporate bodies send research grants to universities, which are paid into the acounts of the institutions, but they get trapped in centralised TSA accounts that are not accessible.

“Such grants come with timelines and the granting institutions get agigated and start asking questions which we can neither answer nor explain. Often, this leads to forfeiture,” he said.

He regretted that the development had led to the loss of many research opportunities and possible breakthroughs, adding that it had also ruptured the confidence between the angry granting institutions and the helpless supposed recipients.

“ASUU has nothing against the TSA, we are only saying that the unversities should be exempted from it in view of the speed with which universities’ activities are carried out and also because lots of funds paid into the schools’ accounts come in from foreign sources,” he explained.

Piwuna admitted, however, that the TSA policy had checked a lot of excessess in the system and should be sustained.

“Some institutions have been found to have up to 25 accounts, some of which are not even known to their Chief Executive Officers.

“Obviously, such accounts were opened by corrupt elements to steal funds; it is a good thing that the TSA has stemmed such recklessness,” he said.

He explained that the warning strike was aimed at forcing government to revitalise the public universities “especially in view of the economic recession that has made it difficult for people to send their children to private universities”.

The ASUU chairman accused government of not giving education the attention it deserved, and vowed that the union would stand its groundS until the right thing was done.

He wondered why government would wait until lecturers began a strike before listening to their concerns.

“Since we started the warrning strike, we have held several meetings with the Senate President and other top stakeholders; one keeps wondering why it is difficult to listen to ASUU early enough so as to avert the worst scenarios.”

He alleged that 22 universities were paying incomplete salaries to workers, and argued that such would only affect commitment to service.

“The Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, for instance, used to collect only 92 per cent of their salaries, but even that has been slashed to 85 per cent.

“ As a union, we have tried to find out why and what we are told is that the budget office has taken six per cent of their recurrent expenditure without any explanation. Certainly, this is a recipe for confusion,” he said.

Piwuna said that ASUU was also “shocked and angry” that states that had not been able to fund their universities were establishing new ones.

He particularly criticised the Edo State Government for starting a new university when the state-owned Ambrose Alli University was being under-funded.

Piwuna also wondered the Bayelsa State Government was working toward establishing an additional state university when it had not been able to meet its commitment to the Niger Delta University.

The ASUU official expressed the union’s readiness to work with stakeholders willing to shore up the fortunes of the educational sector, pointing out that the nation’s fortunes were tied to its growth.

TSA Hits N4.3trn

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Nigeria’s financial crisis yesterday showed a hint of recovery after the cash flow into government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) rose to a whooping N4.36 trillion.

The accountant-general of the federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris, revealed this at a workshop in Lagos with the theme: ‘‘Operation, Implementation and Challenges of Treasury Single Accounts” organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

He described the TSA as a cash planning and management tool that has helped the country to reduce inflation rate and the theft of public funds.

Idris also disclosed that the country lost a whooping sum of N70 billion to failed banks in 2011 when the country was not operating a TSA system.

Idris recalled that, in the past, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) operated more than 10,000 accounts that were mostly dormant with balances of taxpayers’ money not utilized for the development of the country.

Idris, who was represented at the event by the deputy director, TSA Collection Funds Department, Mr Sylva Okolieaboh, explained that  TSA was not just about revenue collection but rather a cash planning tool for the government.

He said, “Even if we detached accountability, transparency and anti- corruption from TSA, it is still very important. That is not the reason why government started TSA. It is an anti-corruption tool, no doubt, but it is more than that.

“We are doing TSA because, sometime in 2011 and 2012, before that time, the government of Nigeria, working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s first tenure, carried out a broad financial reform looking at the country’s financial system and one of the things they asked us to do was to do a census of bank accounts.

“Even though restricted to mainline government ministries, we found out that among the ministries that were based in Abuja then, there were more than 10,000 bank accounts for about 30 ministries.

“It was not only the number that was the problem; the practice was that when new heads of ministries or agencies came on board, they would go and open new bank accounts based on personal interest, forgetting the previous accounts. When they open these new accounts and change signatories, whatever balances in the previous accounts remain there.

“Even the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was coming to us to draw our attention to the accounts, telling us to come and close them.”

Another gain recorded with the TSA policy, Idris noted, is that the huge sums of money paid as interest on money borrowed from banks had since been stopped.

In his address, the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Deacon Titus Soetan, described the TSA, which is an initiative of the federal government, as a bold and highly commendable move directed at quelling corruption in the public service.

Soetan said: “The implementation of the scheme would enable all government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to remit all their revenue collections into a single account through commercial banks acting as agents. At the close of the day’s transactions, the banks are required to remit all the money collected to TSA at the CBN.

“This is a departure from the past where government revenues were collected through several segmented channels, given rise to leakages in the revenue collection chain.”

Credit: leadership

Kogi government overhauls revenue system, to begin TSA.

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With recommendations for adoption of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the establishment of a legally sound and operationally efficient post-autonomy process for the Board of Internal Revenue (BIR), Kogi State is set to rejig its revenue system.

The move, which is part of efforts to fight corruption and wastes in public finance management, has already received commendations from the state government as the Adhoc Committee on Fiscal Responsibility submitted its report.

In recent times, the need to engage professional accountants and financial experts in charting a sustainable path in states’ revenue drive, management and plugging of loopholes against corruption has been canvassed at various levels.

A nine-member committee, led by a professor of Public Sector Accounting at Kogi State University, Steven Ocheni, while delivering the report to the state governor, said the members had painstakingly sourced and collated vital information, which led to the various recommendations in the report.
Other members of the Committee are Asiwaju Idris Ashiru, Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development; Oloruntoba Kehinde, Commissioner for Budget and Planning; Momoh Jibrin , State Accountant-General; and Okala Yakubu, State Auditor-General.

The committee still included Alhaji Ahmed Ododo, Auditor-General for Local Government; Alhaji Bako Mohammed, Ag. Permanent Secretary (Administration), Secretary to the State Government’s Office; Mallam Sairu Mohammed, Ag. Permanent Secretary (Establishment), Office of the Head of Service; and Alhaji Yakubu Oseni, Chairman, Kogi State Board of Internal Revenue.

Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, while receiving the report, said it was meant to reposition the state’s fiscal policies, enthrone transparency and fight corruption, as the terms of reference include the establishment of a legally sound and operationally efficient TSA; efficient Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS); and autonomous revenue board.

He assured that the sound operational guidelines for prudent management of the state’s revenue and financial discipline with a view to total elimination of wastages, drastic reduction in outgoings and rapid increase in revenue generation during this administration and beyond would be implemented.

Already, the committee has recommended for adoption the approach and methodology of Lagos State Pension Commission.To arrive at this, Ocheni said that the committee constituted three sub-committees, which had interactions with the representatives of Kogi State Pension office, representatives of Pension Commission and Pension Fund Administrators.

Again, it engaged the Organised Labour Union and other stakeholders in a Town-Hall meeting to interact on the implementation of the scheme.

“We recommend Kogi State Pensions Commission for both the state and Local government pensioners, adopting the administrative set up of the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC) for convenience and cost effectiveness,” he said.

He however, said the success of the scheme requires a huge investment in ICT to enable state and Local government pensioners’ records to be fully automated and a database maintained for constant update.

Corroborating the need for investment in technology to achieve success in the new drive, the Secretary to the Kogi State Government, Mrs. Ayoade Arike, noted that the implementation of TSA would be be a major issue as it is about online communication.

“I noticed that the internet level in Kogi State is not superb. We need a strong internet facility to aid the TSA,’’ she said.

The committee suggested an execution of an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) from the state to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for deduction of pension contributions at source.

“Technocrats experienced in pension and financial matters be appointed to man the State Pension Commission. The state government should establish a Pension Transition Agency to service the Old Pension Liabilities with a reasonable monthly allocation to be determined by the Actuary, sufficient enough to defray the outstanding pension liabilities in five years,’’ he said.

As part of the repositioning, there is need for a new bill for a legal backing for the autonomy of the Board of Internal Revenue Service to be passed by Kogi State House of Assembly.

For effective performance, the state Internal Revenue Service is to have five Directorates, each headed by an Executive Director, who is a professional tax practitioner and member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) experienced in taxation and management.

The Directorates are: Tax Operations; Compliance; Enforcement; Corporate Services; and Secretary to the Internal Revenue Service.While it also recommended the immediate adoption and implementation of the TSA and the contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) for Kogi State Public Service, there was a pre-qualification of banks, with eight eligible to be used for the policy.

The banks are Access Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Ecobank Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Skye Plc, and United Bank for Africa. By the report, the would now establish a Project Team/Secretariat to be headed by the State Accountant-General, made up of Director Treasury, Director Budget, Staff from Main Accounts in the State Auditor-General’s Office, Inspectorate Unit, Board of Internal Revenue, Director, State Auditor-General’s Office, and the Bursar, Kogi State University representing tertiary institutions.

“The team has a primary responsibility for the coordination of all pre-implementation, implementation and post-implementation programmes required for the successful take-off of the State Government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) scheme.

“The committee recommends that after the first three months of operations, a policy of No-Pin, No-Pay should be applied to ensure all and sundry comply for the success of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS),’’ he said.

Upon implementation of the report, the retirement benefits of certain category of public office holders may be treated in line with the statutory requirements of such benefit schemes, like the Governors and other State Political Office Holders.

Addressing the governor, the Don said the state’s “New Direction Agenda,” which emphasises public accountability, transparency and financial discipline in treasury management, is an affirmation of the administration’s determination to reposition the State Civil Service.

“It is therefore, our belief, that these recommendations, if implemented by your administration, will launch the state on the path aimed at bringing to the door steps the long expected dividends of democratic governance,’’ he said.

Responding, the state Governor, said he was proud of the performance of committee, as well as the work done by the members.“We set up the Adhoc Committee on Fiscal Responsibility to advise us on ways to manage our scarce resources- prioritise and put to use judiciously,” he said.

He pointed out that his administration is much in a hurry to get the committees working because time was against the government, assuring that he was not just setting up the committees, but has the political will to implement to the letter the recommendation of those committees.

“We set up a committee to look into the state’s bloated workforce and uncovered that over N1.3 billion was being paid monthly to ghost workers. We are already implementing certain recommendations that were adhoc in nature.

“We want to stop the menace of armed robbery and kidnapping in the state. We reduced the level of insecurity in the state from what we met it to half. Before this committee comes up with its report, we had implemented 50 per cent of the report,’’ the governor said.

Assuring that the recommendations of a sound committee like this would not be swept under the carpet, he warned that no corrupt official would be harboured and those who want to manipulate the system of TSA and test our might, will face law.

“Nigeria Has Realised N2.7trn From Treasury Single Account” – Buhari

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President Muhammadu Buhari says the Treasury Single Account policy has started yielding results.
He said this while reacting to questions at a meeting with members of the Nigerian Community in Saudi Arabia at the Nigerian House in Riyadh on Tuesday evening.

He announced that his administration had introduced a number of policies and programmes aimed at saving the nation’s economy from collapse.

Buhari cited the TSA and the Zero-based Budget as some of the meaningful financial policies that was checking fraud in the system, saying it had started yielding fruitful results.

According to him, “the nation has so far realised over N2.6 trillion” from the newly introduced TSA.

He, therefore, expressed optimism that with the introduction of the single account, the 2016 budget implementation might not record any form of deficit at the end of the financial year.

Source:Dailypost.ng

Recession: Senators want TSA suspended

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Barely 24 hours after the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, advised the federal government to consider selling off some key national assets, including the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Holdings, as way out of the current economic recess, some senators yesterday kicked against the proposal, describing it as unwise.

Similarly, they also noted that the Treasury Single Account currently being operated by the federal government has greatly contributed to the recess the nation presently passes through.

Saraki had, on Tuesday, suggested some measures to bring the nation’s economy out of doldrums. These, he listed to include; part sale of NLNG Holdings, sale of government’s stake in financial institutions and privatisation and concession of airports and refineries.

But the idea did not go down well with some lawmakers, who also called for the sack of Minister of Finance , Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and her Budget and National Planning counterpart, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, for allegedly lacking the required expertise and professional qualifications to manage the economy,

Specifically, the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, said, selling assets from our oil investment for quick capital in tackling the recession will put the country in messier economic situation, just as he called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take a critical look at his cabinet and put square pegs in square holes.

According to him, Udoma, a lawyer by profession, would do better if posted to a ministry relevant to his profession, so also Adeosun, who he said is an accountant and not economist.

Ekweremadu, a strong advocate of restructuring of the federation, also reiterated the call, saying it should be done based on the template of fiscal federalism and diversification of the economy, for lasting solution against economic crisis of the present magnitude.

He said: “The president needs to look at his cabinet. He has to put square pegs in square holes. Your Excellency, distinguished colleagues, Udo Udoma is my friend, an accomplished lawyer for that matter. But in fairness to him, I believe he can do better in another ministry, especially like trade and investment, certainly not Budget and Planning.

“The minister for finance can do much better in another ministry. At this critical time, we need somebody who is more experienced to man the ministry of finance so that he can be able to coordinate the strategies for this recovery.”

On suggestion for assets said, the lawmaker said, “I have heard about the issue of selling of our assets. I need to caution that other countries are not doing the same. UAE does not even allow you to the oil wells talk less of selling them. And of course, a country like Saudi Arabia, their budget each year is run by investments from their oil revenue not even the air, while other countries are investing and with all the investments we have, and I am sure we will not be fair to the next generation.

“So, if we must sell, we have to sell the non-performing assets so that people can turn them around and create employment. We need to amend section 162, especially from 3,4,5,6 where money in the federation account is enjoined to be shared among the other levels of government.”

Senator Dino Melaye (APC Kogi West), who also called for a re-jig of the federal cabinet with the right people in the right positions, condemned the existing situation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not having a Board.

Senators Bassey Akpan (PDP Akwa Ibom North East), Samuel Anyanwu (PDP Imo East) and Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP Abia North), called for a re-think by the federal government on the implementation of the TSA as, according to them, it is one the factors that triggered the recession.

He said between August and November last year, as a result of the implementation of the policy, about N1.8 trillion was withdrawn from the banking system, which increased to N2.8 trillion in January this year and N3.4 trillion now , leading to drastic reduction in lending capacities of the commercial banks with attendant effect on the country’s economy.

SGF Urges NCPC To Embrace FG Policy On TSA

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Mr Babachir Lawal, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) has called on the Nigerian Christian Pilgrimage Commission (NCPC) to embrace the Federal Government Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy.

 

This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Bolaji Adebiyi, Director of Press in the Office of the SGF and issued to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja

 

The statement said Lawal made the call when he received the 2015 Christian Pilgrimage Report of the commission.

 

It said that the SGF commended the commission for its innovations in the funding of its activities and for inspiring Nigerians who perform the Christian pilgrimage.

 

It pledged the commitment of the Federal Government to address the challenges facing the commission.

 

The statement said that the SGF assured the commission that the Federal Government would do its best to ensure that the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) signed with Israel becomes operational.

 

He urged the commission to remain non-partisan in the discharge of its responsibilities.

 

The statement said that the Chairman of NCPC Rev. Nicolas Okoh, told the SGF that the commission conducted four pilgrimages in 2015.

 

“These were the Easter, Youth, Family and Main Pilgrimages. During the pilgrimages, there were no cases of mishaps nor pilgrim absconding,” the statement quoted Okoh as saying.

 

It said that Kennedy Opara, the Executive Secretary of NCPC had told the SGF that apart from visiting Israel for the Main Pilgrimage, pilgrims were also taken to Greece and Rome.

 

(NAN)

TSA: Senate Slashes Commission From N7.6bn To N656m

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The Senate yesterday recommended the slashing of the N7.6billion commission due to systemSpecs owners of the remita software used for the collection of federal government revenue under the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to N656milliion.

 
The senators adopted the resolution following the report of the joint committees on Finance, Public Accounts and Banking, Insurance and other financial institutions that investigated the TSA deal.
Delivering the report of the committees, Senator John Enoh (PDP, Cross River Central) observed that withholding and diversion of funds from Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) without the approval of the National Assembly violates the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
The senators recommended that N656.5million be paid to the systemSpecs as against the claim of N7.6billion as transaction costs for funds transferred from March to November 30, 2015.
Enoh said they arrived at the amount using N700 per transaction as against the one percent earlier adopted for the TSA.
The lawmakers said 937,869 transactions were carried out through remita software of systemSpecs before the contract was suspended in November last year.
In a reaction, the SystemSpecs owners of the remita platform said the senate report did not accuse them of under-delivering on the substance of the contract.
In a statement by its media consultant, Sola Fanawopo, SystemSpecs said: “Our efforts are recognised as having played a significant role in the life of the nation when it mattered and that the disagreement has only been on the commercial terms of our contract.”

 

Credit : Daily Trust

TSA: Plateau Recovers N2.7 Billion

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Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau on Friday disclosed that the state government had recovered N2.7 billion through the implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) in the state.

 

Lalong made this known at the All Progressives Congress (APC) media roundtable in Abuja.

 

According to him, the money, which had hitherto been missing, was traced to some accounts in the state and have been recovered.

 

 

He said that the recovery had enabled him to pay workers in the state, who had been on strike for months, at a time.

“Recently, we recovered about N2.7 billion in the state, money that was regarded as lost. We traced and recovered the money which was meant for teachers.

“Teachers, civil servants, the judiciary had gone on several months of strike; some nine, some 11 but now, since I came on board, we did our best. We now have arrears of salaries of only two months.

“For teachers, we paid all; they are back to work. The judiciary is also back to work. So, for the plateau, we are moving on well.

“In the area of corruption, we are putting pressure on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to hasten their investigations so that they can begin prosecution and we can also gain recovery of looted funds,’’ Lalong said.

 

He said that several other cases had also been sent to the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), “which will yield results soon’’.
He disclosed that like the Federal Government, there was pressure to stop prosecution of some cases, while some people with concrete evidence refused to come out to testify.

 

He, however, said that such antics did not and would not deter the government from pushing for the recovery of stolen funds in the state.

 

The governor said that he was unsure why other governors were finding it difficult to implement the TSA, disclosing that the merits of the system outweighed its demerits.

 

“I am not an accountant but immediately I became aware of both the advantages and disadvantages of TSA, I gave the instruction that it should be implemented.

“I organised a committee immediately and today, TSA is being implemented.

“I don’t know why some governors are finding it difficult to implement TSA in their states but out of the TSA implementation in our state, we have gained some dividends.

“We are now tracing some accounts that were not known to us before and we are seeing some excesses in those accounts, especially in some of the ministries.

“So, I will advise other states that have not yet implemented TSA to do so,’’ he said.

 

Lalong assured that in spite of the reduction in monthly allocation to the state, there would be no downsizing of workers in the state.

“It will be very difficult to downsize on the plateau; I don’t intend to and I will not. All I want to do is to maintain what I have and also improve on it.

“That’s why our concentration is on improving on the revenue so that we can, if possible, employ additional workforce.

“Downsizing in this present administration is going to be very difficult; the president has advised state governments and even corporate organisations not to downsize,’’ he said.

The governor said that although he was yet to pay all outstanding salaries, he would do so as soon as the Federal Government paid the bailout he applied for in full.

“Before the issue of bailout, we had already started paying workers in the state.
When the issue of bailout came, we applied for N10 billion which was supposed to be for the arrears of salaries for about eight to nine months and so far, we have only received N5 billion.
“Plateau was supposed to get N10 billion for salaries and for infrastructure but all we have got so far from the Central Bank of Nigeria is N5 billion.
“Even with that, we have been able to clear most of the arrears of salaries; we only have an outstanding of two months salaries not paid in our state.
“We have paid all the outstanding salaries for all our local governments. If I am able to get my balance of N5 billion, within a week, all the remaining salaries would have been cleared.’’

 

(NAN)

TSA: CBN Unveils Operational Guidelines For States

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State governments will soon begin to enjoy the benefits of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday unveiled guidelines for the operation of TSA by state governments.

The federal government has been able to consolidate its account with a balance of N2.2 trillion through the policy.

The TSA, according to the CBN, would be a major component of financial and treasury management reforms to be undertaken by the states.

The new circular posted on the Central Bank’s website yesterday explained that the Central Bank introduced the guidelines for states in exercise of its powers, as provided in the CBN Act 2007, Section 47, sub section 2(2d).

“The objective of this guideline is to provide state governments with a clear framework to support their successful implementation of the TSA initiative based on standardized banking arrangements, operational processes and IT infrastructure,” it added.

An essential requirement for operating the TSA by states is that government agencies are not to operate any bank account under any guise outside the purview and oversight of the treasury.

In addition, the Central Bank explained that, under the policy, the consolidation of government cash resources should be comprehensive and encompass all government cash resources, both budgetary and extra-budgetary.

The banking sector regulator listed the two TSA models to include: The main TSA and associated ledger sub-accounts (where they exist) are to be maintained in a single banking institution; or the main TSA maintained in a single banking institution and associated zero balance ledger sub-accounts (ZBAs) (where they exist) are maintained in other institutions from where balances are swept daily to the main TSA in CBN or the appointed main TSA hosting financial institution.

“Each state government shall select any TSA model of its choice. The choice of a TSA model shall be informed and guided by the availability of clear operational processes and basic technology infrastructure that supports the implementation of the model of choice.

“Each state government shall inform the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria of its decision to introduce the TSA scheme, detailing: the state’s preferred TSA model (banking structure) and level of preparedness to commence, operate and support the scheme, which shall include, but not limited to, project organisation and resourcing, operational process workflow, available technology infrastructure, etc.

“Each state government shall maintain contractual agreement(s) with parties involved in the design, delivery and ongoing support of its TSA scheme. Such agreement shall clearly define the terms and the roles and responsibilities of the state government and the relevant parties,” it added.

Credit: Leadership

See How Much Buhari Saved Using TSA

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President Buhari says he has so far saved 2.2 trillion Naira using the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

The President gave the revelation while interacting with a cross section of the Nigerian community in the United Kingdom on the side-line of the Supporting Syria Conference in London.

He berated the past administration for operating several accounts with which they siphoned money belonging to Nigerians vowing not to relent in the fight against corruption.

President Buhari said that he would make every Nigerian accountable and that money recovered so far can fund the country’s deficit and infrastructure development.

Credit: ChannelsTv

‘We Won’t Submit To Buhari’s Treasury Single Account’ – National Assembly

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National Assembly yesterday said it would not be part of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) being implemented by President Muhammadu Buhari to reduce the level of corruption in governance.

President Buhari had during last Wednesday’s media chat, said he was having challenge with the National Assembly over the TSA.
“We are having problems with them (National Assembly) on TSA. We have to have a closed door session with them,” the president said during the media chat.

TSA was introduced by the federal government to reduce the level of corruption in governance.
Buhari shortly after assuming office directed all federal government agencies to key into the new system.

But both upper and lower chambers yesterday said they would not be part of the TSA, saying it amounted to, “surrendering of their autonomy to the executive.”
In an interview, the spokespersons of the senate, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said they were in total support of the TSA but that they would not be part of it.

“There is no any trouble on TSA, it is as an executive programme and we cannot surrender our autonomy to the executive. Submitting ourselves to the TSA, is surrendering our autonomy to the executive. We are on the first line charge as guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Why should we give you our funds to put in the TSA and then we will be subjected to your own control, is that autonomy? That is just the issue; we’ve given our total support to the TSA programme. As far as we are concerned, we cannot subject ourselves to it because it amount to mortgaging our autonomy.

“Our autonomy is guaranteed by the constitution and how our money should be paid is also guaranteed by the constitution. Are we saying our autonomy should be jettisoned? Are we a revenue generating arm? Are we saying that the constitution should be jettisoned, because somebody wants to do TSA? Are we going to put the Constitution aside and follow somebody’s wish? What we are following is constitutional,” he said.
He said the senate would continue to follow due process in discharging their constitutional functions, saying “if you are following due process, you are promoting accountability and by so doing, you are promoting good governance.”

On the pledge by the Senate President Bukola Saraki to make the budget of the National Assembly public and transparent, he said, “when our budget is out, you will see the difference from previous ones.”
Also speaking, the spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Abdulrazak Sa’ad Namdas said TSA is an executive policy, and that National Assembly as an arm of government was yet to be part of it.

He said though TSA was a good way of ensuring transparency and accountability in handling public funds, they as an arm of government should be allowed to operate with some level of independence. He maintained that they were yet to decide whether to be part of TSA or not.
“You know every arm of government has its ways of operations. The issue of TSA is an executive matter, and in as much as we want to work together with the executive for good governance, we are not part of TSA for now,” he said.

Source: DailyTrust

We Won’t Submit To Buhari’s TSA– N/Assembly

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National Assembly yesterday said it would not be part of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) being implemented by President Muhammadu Buhari to reduce the level of corruption in governance.
President Buhari had during  last Wednesday’s media chat, said he was having challenge with the National Assembly over the TSA.
“We are having problems with them (National Assembly) on TSA. We have to have a closed door session with them,” the president said during the media chat.
TSA was introduced by the federal government to reduce the level of corruption in governance.  Buhari shortly after assuming office directed all federal government agencies to key into the new system.
But both upper and lower chambers yesterday said they would not be part of the TSA, saying it amounted to, “surrendering of their autonomy to the executive.”
In an interview, the spokespersons of the senate, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said they were in total support of the TSA but that they would  not be part of it.
“There is no any trouble on TSA, it is as an executive programme and we cannot surrender our autonomy to the executive. Submitting ourselves to the TSA, is surrendering our autonomy to the executive. We are on the first line charge as guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Why should we give you our funds to put in the TSA and then we will be subjected to your own control, is that autonomy? That is just the issue; we’ve given our total support to the TSA programme. As far as we are concerned, we cannot subject ourselves to it because it amount to mortgaging our autonomy.
“Our autonomy is guaranteed by the constitution and how our money should be paid is also guaranteed by the constitution. Are we saying our autonomy should be jettisoned? Are we a revenue generating arm? Are we saying that the constitution should be jettisoned, because somebody wants to do TSA? Are we going to put the Constitution aside and follow somebody’s wish? What we are following is constitutional,” he said.
He said the senate would continue to follow due process in discharging their constitutional functions, saying “if you are following due process, you are promoting accountability and by so doing, you are promoting good governance.”
On the pledge by the Senate President Bukola Saraki to make the budget of the National Assembly public and transparent, he said, “when our budget is out, you will see the difference from previous ones.”
Credit: DailyTrust

Wale Bakare: Why The 8th Senate Is Not Opposed To The Implementation Of Treasury Single Account

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The announcement by President Buhari at a public function to adopt a single treasury accounts for all revenues due to the government and its agencies has continued to elicit controversies from different quarters.

The Treasury Single Account (TSA) is an initiative that should be welcomed by all and economic pundits have argued that these steps are necessary to improve appropriation control and enable efficient cash management. The impunity that permeated the previous administration affected the full implementation of the TSA as funds were loosely spent to finance unproductive ventures with reckless abandon. Corruption and lack of sincerity by the executive has hindered the benefits of the scheme, rather more funds have disappeared under questionable circumstances and this explains the reasons for the mixed reaction when the TSA matter was up for debate and most especially the Senate stands to ensure that due process are followed in its contrivance and overall configuration.

If we have to adopt the Treasury Single Account, then we have to get it right this time, the change Mantra of the Buhari led government has given some credence of hope to an end to the shenanigans that has often encumbered the successes of such democratic process. To avoid a clog in the wheel of its progress, It is on this premise that the senate is demanding openness and accountability in its handling and execution from the running of the account by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the software system company- Systemspecs.

On Tuesday, the 17th of November 2015, during the plenary sitting shortly after the presentation of the report of the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, the Senator representing Kogi West Dino Melaiye raised a point of order calling the Abubakar Bukola Saraki led 8th Senate to investigate an alleged N25 billion commission paid to Systemspec being 1% of the accrued TSA fund that passed through its Software – REMITA. Baffled by the politicization of the TSA fund, Dino Melaiye also called the attention of the Senators to a publication in one of the National dailies sabotaging their earlier call for a probe into the alleged N25b commission paid. A copy of the newspaper publication was tendered and submitted to the Senate President for immediate action during plenary.

Based on constitutional provisions, the Executive arm of government led by President Buhari dispenses the honour and holds the sword of the community. He administers laws enacted by the legislature. The Legislative arm on the other hand prescribes the rules by which the duties and rights of every citizen are to be regulated. For instance, the civil society group or any aggrieved Nigerian can exercise his fundamental right by submitting a written petition to the Senate through the relevant Senate committees on any actions taken by the executive which is deemed inimical to the Country’s progress, while the same individual or group can write to the judicial arm to call the legislative and executive to order, which on the contrary, has no influence over the executive or the legislative.

Simple logic depicts that certain perplexity challenging the rights of the Senate, with an ample oversight power demanding ‘rare’ information from the executive on the TSA implementation shows the leaps and troughs of our democratic outreach. It is imperative that good governance in democratic settings like ours is dependent on the type of laws enacted by the legislature as they are the eyes of the electorate in their oversight capacity as watchdog to other arms of the government. While I agree that the relationship between the executive and the legislative arm should be strengthened as we’ve learnt from our nascent democracy, that one cannot be strictly separated and independent of the other, it is also, important that their cooperation must work in favor of those whom they represent; to formulate policies and laws in line with standard practices.

To further consolidate on the earlier points established by Senator Dino Melaiye, Section 82 and 120 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, empowers the national and state assemblies to direct or cause to be directed or investigated into:

  1. Any matter or thing with respect to which it has powers to make laws

    2. The conduct of affairs of any person, authority, ministry or government department charged with the duty or responsibility for executing or administering laws enacted by the national or state assembly, and disbursing or administering the money appropriated;

      3. To make laws with respect to any matter within its legislative competence and to correct any defects in existing laws;

   4.To expose corruption, inefficiency or waste in the executive or the administration of laws within its legislative competence

Automatically, the Senate is required by law to exercise its democratic privileges to conduct investigation into the activities of the Treasury Single Account for good of the Country. However, it must be noted that these investigations are not in any way a confirmation of fraud until investigations are concluded. So, does carrying out this legislative oversight functions infer that the 8th Senate is opposed to the implementation of the Treasury Single Account?

The advantages that the TSA portends far outweighs its demerit for any right thinking person to vehemently oppose its successful implementations at a time like this when the Country is on its path to economic recovery and moral renaissance.

Loss of moral value is the reason many see this move as the ‘’Executive Vs Judiciary’’. The bone of contention here is who gets what and under what condition. What is the role being played by the e-collection agent (REMITA)? Why the disregard for the CBN act, which makes it mandatory as the sole body responsible for collection and disbursement of money on behalf of the Federal government. Answers to these any many other pertinent questons might fasttrack the implementation process and lay to rest the confusion surrounding funds payment.

In every rumour there’s a grain of truth in it, no matter how insignificant – that ‘’little truth’’ is what the senate seek to unravel. Checks and balances are necessary especially in this CHANGE era where expectations are high, monitoring of executive actions, through oversight mechanisms such as the committee on Finance, and Banking set up by the Senate President will cut wasteful spending and enhance speedy economic growth.  In my opinion, this motion raised by Melaiye to probe the activities of the TSA is similar to the type raised by Senate Bukola Saraki back then in 2011 on fuel subsidy payments, which eventually saved Nigeria a whooping N1.2 trillion in the excess crude account. The TSA must work effectively for Nigeria and it activities must not be shrouded in secrecy. On the positive, these might just be the beginning of an independence legislation we’ve been craving, devoid of financial or material benefits or inducement by members of the executive arm to overlook certain issues of national interest.

Wale Bakare writes from Lagos and can be reached on Twitter by @waleflame

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

FG To Fund Unemployment Allowance, School Feeding With TSA

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The Federal Government plans to fund the N5,000 monthly allowance for 25 million unemployed youths and the free school feeding programme from the Treasury Single Account.

It was learnt that despite dwindling oil revenue, the government believed that some money that would have gone into private pockets because of the uncoordinated and multiple bank accounts operated by government agencies, would be saved through the TSA and be spent on the purpose.

A source in the Presidency said on Tuesday that funds that would be freed through the gains that would be derived from the TSA, domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria, would be used for the well-being of Nigerians and the social safety net would be one of such programmes.

“This government is saving funds that, in the past, ended up in personal pockets through the TSA. These funds will come handy for this programme,” the source said.

Credit: Punch

‘Fayose, Others Should Return To Elementary School’ – Information Minister, Lai Mohammed

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Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has suggested that Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti and others kicking against President Muhammadu Buhari’s Treasury Single Account policy should return to elementary because they have failed to understand the workings of the policy.

“Those behind the rumour that a single company made N25 billion from charging one per cent of TSA funds that passed through the company’s software, may need to return to elementary school to get some lessons in arithmetic,” he said in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Segun Adeyemi, in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

“This is because in order for one per cent charge to fetch N25 billion, the funds accruing into the TSA
must have reached N2.5 trillion.

Yet, the total amount of funds in the TSA to date is still much less than 2 trillion.

“More importantly, at the time the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) ordered that all monies that were erroneously charged as ‘revenue’ be returned to the TSA Account late last month, the TSA had less than N800 billion.

“It therefore beggars belief that anyone could attempt to mislead the public by raising a false alarm that a firm made N25 billion in TSA charges.”

Mohammed appealed to Nigerians not to allow those who had been funding their lavish lifestyles and encouraging corruption, to the detriment of ordinary citizens and without bothering about national interest.

He said the accusation was to sabotage the laudable TSA programme with contrived lies, dangerous innuendoes and misinformation.

It would be recalled that Fayose , in a statement on Sunday, declared that he would not be part of the meeting the Federal Government was to hold with state governors on the TSA because the policy itself was a fraud against Nigeria and its people as it is aimed at recouping money spent on the last general elections by the APC, as well as raise money for future elections, especially the Kogi and Bayelsa States gubernatorial poll.

Fayose also asked the Federal Government to expose those behind REMITA so that Nigerians would know those “through whom the All Progressives Congress, APC, is siphoning Nigerian money to fund Kogi and Bayelsa States governorship election.”

He added that System Specs the company that manages TSA made N25 billion.

FG Freezes INEC’s Accounts Over Non-Compliance To TSA

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The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN,  has frozen all bank accounts operated by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, following the commission’s failure to comply with Federal Government’s directive that all ministries, agencies and departments must operate Treasury Single Account, TSA.

The commission is now cash strapped and is unable to discharge most of its responsibilities.

Informed sources at the commission had revealed that INEC had failed to comply with the government’s directives on the TSA, due largely to the peculiar activities of the body as the nation’s electoral umpire which should qualify it for exemption from the new directive.

It was further gathered that the decision of the governments to freeze all accounts operated by INEC has thrown the body in a serious dilemma because even the staff salary for September is yet to be paid just as many contractors whose outstanding fees were yet to be paid on a daily basis throng the commission for their payments.

Read More: vanguardngr

300 MDAs Yet To Comply With TSA Directive- AGF

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About 300 Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government have yet to comply with the directive to deposit remittances into the Treasury Single Account, Ahmed Idris, the Accountant-General of the Federation, has said.

Speaking Tuesday after the Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting in Abuja, he said that the exact number of MDAs that had enrolled could not be ascertained yet.

“As at today, I can tell you about 600 out of about 900 MDAs have keyed in.

“For the number of accounts I cannot categorically tell you because even the MDAs and indeed the Federal Government never knew the number of accounts.

“However the accounts are going on to the Central Bank of Nigeria and I believe very soon a position will be made available on the number of accounts that have been swept up,’’ he said.

Read More: premiumtimesng

No Ministry, Department Exempted From TSA– Emefiele

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No government ministry, department or agency had been exempted from the recent directive on the Treasury Single Account policy introduced by the Federal Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, governor, Godwin Emefiele, has said.

The governor, who was speaking in Abuja on Tuesday on the outcome of the two-day Monetary Policy Committee meeting, said so far he was not aware of any other directive countering the previous instruction to all government agencies to remit all revenues to the TSA account with the CBN.

“As at today, the CBN has not received any memo from any quarters exempting any organisation from the directive on TSA”, the CBN governor said. “Let me urge all government agencies to ensure that they complied fully with the directive to ensure its success.”

He said the impact of the TSA policy on the economy so far showed that the amount of funds moved from the commercial banks to the CBN since the policy commenced about a weeks ago had been moderate, contrary to reports that it had triggered liquidity squeeze.

Although he acknowledged that there have been a lot of speculation in the market, he said as an on-going exercise, the impact of the policy would continue to grow as time goes.

Read More: premiumtimesng

No Ministry, Department Exempted From Treasury Single Account – Emefiele

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No government ministry, department or agency had been exempted from the recent directive on the Treasury Single Account policy introduced by the Federal Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, governor, Godwin Emefiele, has said.

The governor, who was speaking in Abuja on Tuesday on the outcome of the two-day Monetary Policy Committee meeting, said so far he was not aware of any other directive countering the previous instruction to all government agencies to remit all revenues to the TSA account with the CBN.

“As at today, the CBN has not received any memo from any quarters exempting any organisation from the directive on TSA”, the CBN governor said. “Let me urge all government agencies to ensure that they complied fully with the directive to ensure its success.”

He said the impact of the TSA policy on the economy so far showed that the amount of funds moved from the commercial banks to the CBN since the policy commenced about a weeks ago had been moderate, contrary to reports that it had triggered liquidity squeeze.

Although he acknowledged that there have been a lot of speculation in the market, he said as an on-going exercise, the impact of the policy would continue to grow as time goes.

“The data that the committee (Monetary Policy Committee) reviewed between yesterday and today showed that liquidity ratio in the banks have decreased moderately.

“That is why the committee came up with the conclusion that the impact of the movement of funds from the CBN on liquidity is sort of moderate.

“The liquidity ratio showed that Nigerian banks are safe,” he said.

Mr. Emefiele said the CBN would continue to monitor the liquidity of the banks to make sure that they did not slide into difficult terrain.

As widely expected before the meeting, Mr. Emefiele said the meeting had resolved to retain the lending rate by banks, otherwise known as Monetary Policy Rate, MPR at 13 per cent, while the Cash Reserve Ratio, CRR on private and public sector deposits was reduced from 31 per cent to 25 per cent.

The other resolution at the meeting was retaining the symmetric corridor of +/- 200 basis points around the MPR, while liquidity ratio was put at 20 per cent as part of efforts to tighten liquidity condition in the banking sector to cushion the impact of the TSA policy.

Source – Premium times

FG Exempts NNPC, PHCN, BoI, FMBN, 10 Others From Treasury Single Account

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The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation has exempted 13 Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) from the Treasury Single Account (TSA). In a circular released yesterday September 21st, the accountant general said they were exempted because they are entities classified as profit oriented government businesses, pay dividends to the Federal Government.

The exempted MDAs are the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Bank of Industry (BoI), Nigeria Railway Corporation, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Bank of Agriculture, Niger Delta Power Holding Company/National Integrated Power Project, National Communication Satellite Limited, Galaxy Backbone Limited, Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, Urban Development Bank, Nigerian Export-Import Bank NEXIM) and Transcorp Hilton Hotel.

A circular entitled, “Approval to Exempt Some MDAs In line With the e-Collection Mop-Up Exercise,” from the AGF’s office to The Director, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Banking and Payments System Department, referenced FD/LP2015/C/ADC/20/1/ /DF dated September 14, 2015 and signed by M. K, Dikwa, for the AGF, Federal Ministry of Finance, Funds Department, Abuja, reads in part: “Approval is hereby granted to your bank to exempt the accounts of thirteen (13) MDAs (Category 6) as listed below the mop-up in line with the e-Collection Circular No. HCFSF/428/S.1/120 dated 7th August 2015 as these are Profit-Oriented Government Business entities that are to pay their dividends into the Treasury Single Accounts whenever they are declared.

Please note that in line with the Presidential approval, the following as it relates to Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation NNPC as listed above (S/No.9) under Category 4 should also apply: That NAPIMS remains classified as an MDA that is funded from the Federation Account under Category 4 of the Circular, being the NNPC Business Unit responsible for the management of the Federation’s investment in the upstream activities and funded from direct proceeds of oil and gas revenue.

That NNPC will continue to preserve the status with respect to NAPIMS Operations Account as well as Escrow Account for Third Party Financing in view of the Joint Venture (JV) Cash funding currently being experienced. That all other NNPC’s commercial/Business Entities as re-classified as ‘Profit-Oriented Public Corporations /Business Enterprises’ under Category 6 of the Circular which requires that only dividends from these entities be paid into the TSA.”.

Nigeria’s Interbank Market Frozen As Banks Comply With TSA

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Nigerian banks made no bids on the interbank money market on Tuesday as they awaited instructions on how to comply with a directive to transfer government revenues into a Treasury Single Account (TSA) with the Central Bank of Nigeria, dealers said.

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered that all revenues be paid into the TSA from Tuesday, as part of a drive to fight graft.

“No trading is currently going on because no bank was willing to put out quotes until there is a clearer direction with the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA),” one dealer said.

“The market is right now frozen, as no trading going on,” another trader said.

Credit: dailytimes

TSA Enforcement Begins Tomorrow

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After 48 years of non-compliance, all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government shall in the next 24 hours commence implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), in line with the directive of the federal government.

It will be recalled that President Buhari set Tuesday September 15 as deadline for the full implementation of his directive that all revenue due to the federal government or any of its agencies must be paid into the TSA or designated accounts maintained and operated in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), except otherwise and expressly approved.

Already, to ensure quick compliance with the directive, the head of service of the federation, Danladi Kifasi had given the federal sub-treasury account name and number as Accountant General: 300002095.

Read More: leadership