Treasury Single Account (TSA) now has a total of N5.2trillion since its implementation started in October 2015. The Accountant General of the Federation, (AGF), Alhaji Ahmed Idris, who disclosed this at the beginning of a two-day retreat on the TSA, in Abuja, said that more than 200, 000 bank accounts of federal government Ministries, Departments and Agencies had been closed in the process.
He said that the TSA had brought a lot of sanity and transparency into the federal government management of its funds and has eliminated an average of N4.7 billion bank charges paid by federal MDAs, monthly, in addition to plugging several leakages and corruption.
According to Alh Idris, the TSA policy had been put in place since 2012 but was not implemented due to lack of political and that it was only the current administration that provided the political will for its implementation.
His words, “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.”
In a message, the Acting (Ag) President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said that the TSA was a demonstration of the Buhari administration’s determination to ensure transparency and prudence in the management of government resources.
The Ag president who was represented his Special Adviser on Economic Matters, Dr Adeyemi Dipeolu, said that prior TSA, it took as much as 28 days to access government cash after it had been collected by Deposit Money Banks and another 21days for MDAs to access their funds after releases had been made by the Treasury.
According to him, “The Buhari Administration pledged to work towards changing the way we conduct government business in Nigeria. In this regard, we committed to improving revenue collection and blocking leakages inherent in the system.
“This was in the context of our determination to ensure prudence, accountability and transparency in the use of public resources. It is therefore noteworthy in this regard
that TSA implementation has enabled Government to record significant milestones in several areas.
“To start with, there is now improved visibility of government revenues and cash flows. Before TSA implementation, it was difficult for relevant Institutions to determine the Federal Government cash position in a timely manner.
“Now the position is clear; with an average of N13 billion accruing to all Government agencies every single working day. This improves decision making and engenders efficiency in Public Financial Management. Another key outcome has been the elimination of the revenue and expenditure float.
“Before TSA, it took an average of 28 days to access cash after the revenue had been collected through commercial banks and about 21 days for MDAs to access their budgetary allocations after release from Treasury. These timing differences which adversely affected budget implementation have now been eliminated.”
The Ag President noted that a lot had been achieved through the TSA, the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) and the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) but that the tempo must be sustained to bring in all MDAs and by so doing further curtail corruption and leakages.
“Alot has been achieved through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel System (IPPIS), and unprecedented success has been realized through implementation of the Government Integrated Financial Management
Information System (GIFMIS)”, he said.
Prof. Osinbajo also urged States and Local Governments to embrace the TSA implementation as a vehicle through which fiscal discipline could “be entrenched for the benefit of generations to come.”
