President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered all Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies to start paying into a Treasury Single Account (TSA) for all government revenues, incomes and other receipts.
According to the directive, this measure is to promote transparency and facilitate compliance with sections 80 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution.
A statement by the Senior Special Assisitant to the Vice President, Laolu Akande, at the weekend read: “Henceforth, all receipts due to the Federal Government or any of its agencies must be paid into TSA or designated accounts maintained and operated in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), except otherwise expressly approved.”
He continued: “A TSA is a unified structure of government bank accounts enabling consolidation and optimal utilization of government cash resources.
“It is a bank account or a set of linked bank accounts through which the government transacts all its receipts and payments and gets a consolidated view of its cash position at any given time.”
The statement added: “This presidential directive would end the previous public accounting situation of several fragmented accounts for government revenues, incomes and receipts, which in the recent past has meant the loss or leakages of legitimate income meant for the federation account.”
President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier promised state governors at the inaugural meeting of the National Economic Council, NEC, in June, that all revenues prescribed for lodgment into the federation account would be treated as such under his watch.
He also said he would ensure strict compliance with all relevant laws on accounting, allocation and disbursement.
The policy directive on TSA applies to fully funded organs of government like the Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Foreign Missions, as well as the partially funded ones, like Teaching Hospitals, Medical Centres, Federal Tertiary Institutions.
Agencies like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), among others, also affected, according to the statement.
