FG saves N48bn from TSA, but frustrations trail policy 1 year on
If there is any policy of the federal government that is double-edged sword, it is Treasury Single Account (TSAs) in the last one year.
Even though the Federal Government has claimed a monthly savings of about N4bn from spending like bank charges, accounts maintenance cost and others imposed by banks managing over 10,000 accounts of the apex government, top government officials and government contractors have been lamenting inability to access common fund to run official activities.
This was due to the rigorous process of getting fund from TSA, even though the money was made and kept by the agency.
Investigations have shown that activities at many MDAs are currently grounded because of TSA, except for payment of salaries.
It would be recalled that the policy was billed for introduction in February 2015 by last administration but lack of political will and the general elections forced it to a stop, but the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration working with a large heart and determined to fight corruption began the implementation from September 15, the same year.
The Accountant-General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris, confirmed the savings by the monthly savings of N4bn, saying a total of N48bn has so far been saved by the government.
The TSA is a platform, which was used by the government to unify all its accounts by ensuring that all money belonging to the Federal Government is kept with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He said, “The Treasury Single Account is one of the initiatives to block leakages. Part of the leakages that we have is the cost of borrowing. I can assure you that by the TSA implementation, we have saved the Federal Government over N4bn cost of funds per month.
“Every month, we used to incur as much as about N4bn and that is no more because of the application and implementation of the TSA. Leakages have been blocked. There is more transparency of expenditure and more control and we are doing a lot more in blocking leakages.”
“The blocking of leakages is effective because everything is being monitored. Resources are scarce and so we cannot just roll out resources without enough mechanism to monitor what it is being applied for.
“We will not do only a post-audit exercise; we will also do a pre-audit so that whatever is being done is verified before expenditure is incurred.”
Since the commencement of the TSA, there have been series of job losses in banks owing to a decline in deposits.
The history of sacks in banks is still fresh in minds of analysts. Ecobank Nigeria, for instance, has sacked over 1,040 of its employees while Diamond Bank Plc sacked over 200 members of its workforce.
About N4.36tn was saved after unifying all the government’s accounts under the TSA, but currently, several strategic activities of the government are stranded due to the rigorous processes of applying and accessing the fund in TSA.
