Buhari stikes deadly blow against corruption with order on TSA

President Muhammadu Buhari used just one stroke of the pen yesterday to block what many in Nigeria believe is the biggest source of leakage in government revenues, when he directed all ministries and government departments and agencies to maintain the single treasury account (TSA) domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“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” Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President, Media & Publicity, Laolu Akande, said in press statement on Sunday, to announce the measure which could lead to a whopping 20 per cent increase in government revenues.

The TSA is a unified structure of government bank accounts enabling consolidation and utilisation of government cash resources and only last week, the Kaduna state governor, Nasir el Rufai, imposed the same measure in his state.

It can be a singular bank account or a set of linked accounts through which the government transacts all its receipts and payments and gets a consolidated view of its cash position at any given time.

Akande said the directive issued by the president was meant specifically to promote transparency and facilitate compliance with sections 80 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution.

The 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 to comply the statement said.

For agencies that are fully or partially self-funding, Sub-Accounts linked to TSA are to be maintained at the CBN and the accounting system will be configured to allow them access to funds, based on their approved budgetary provisions.

According to Akande, the 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 leakage of legitimate income meant for the Federation Account.

President Buhari had promised state governors at the inaugural meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) in June, that under his watch, all revenues prescribed for lodgment into the Federation Account would be treated as such, and that he would ensure strict compliance with all relevant laws on accounting, allocation and disbursement.

In a July 9, 2015 paper, titled Nigeria’s post election financial realities, Ayo Teriba, a  Cambridge University trained economist, said, “Nigeria needs to put an end to crude oil theft, stop all petroleum subsidy payments, streamline tax/import-duty waivers, amend existing laws to abolish the autonomy granted revenue collecting agencies and create a single treasury- account for all types of government revenue, with all government ministries, departments and agencies included in a single appropriation process to ensure adequate resources for good quality governance. “

TTeriba said while the economy of Nigeria is 155.4 per cent of South Africa’s, Nigeria’s total government revenues captured amounted to only 79.5 percent that of South Africa. While the ratio of government revenues to GDP in Nigeria stands at a measly 12 per cent, the level is as high as 35 per cent in South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Angola and Morocco.

One university teacher who spoke to BusinessDay last night, welcomed the directive, saying the move to TSA could lead to as much as 20 per cent increase in government revenues if well implemented.

Elizabeth Archibong