A deadline directing all government departments and agencies in Nigeria to maintain and operate a single bank account expired on Tuesday, September 15.
A circular issued to all Ministries, Department and Agencies of the Federal Government directed that all revenues due to the Federal Government or any of its agencies must be paid into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) or designated accounts maintained and operated in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), except otherwise expressly approved.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande.
According to the directive, the measure is specifically to promote transparency and facilitate compliance with sections 80 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution.
A TSA is a unified structure of bank accounts enabling consolidation and optimal utilization of government’s cash resources. It is a bank account or a set of linked bank accounts through which government transacts all its receipts and payments and gets consolidated view of its cash position at any given time.
This presidential directive, Mr. Akande said, 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.
