Buhari orders federal ministries, agencies to open treasury single account

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered each and every Federal Government Ministry, Department or Agency to start paying into a Treasury Single Account (TSA) for all government revenues, incomes and other receipts. According to the directive, this measure is specifically to promote transparency and facilitate compliance with sections 80 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution. Henceforth, according to a statement by Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on‎ Media and Publicity, 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. 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. 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. It would be recalled that 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 lodgement into the federation account will be treated as such under his watch and that he will ensure strict compliance with all relevant laws on accounting, allocation and disbursement. Since then the presidency has worked with relevant agencies of the federal government to evolve this policy directive. This directive 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, etc. Agencies like the CBN, SEC, CAC, NPA, NCC, FAAN, NCAA, NIMASA, NDIC, NSC, NNPC, FIRS, NCS, MMSD, DPR are also affected. For any agency that is fully or partially self-funding, Sub-Accounts linked to TSA are to be maintained at CBN and the accounting system will be configured to allow them access to funds based on their approved budgetary provisions.

(Premium Times Nigeria)