Buhari talks tough, orders Nigerian agencies to switch to Treasury Single Account or face sanction

President Muhammadu Buhari has set a deadline of Tuesday, September 15 for full compliance with his directive that all revenue 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. A circular issued to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Danladi Kifasi urged the MDAs to ensure strict compliance with the deadline to avoid sanctions. The circular – HCSF/428/S.1/125 of September 4, 2015 noted that a number of MDAs were yet to comply with Circular Ref. No. HCSF/428/S.1/120 of August 7, 2015 which conveyed President Buhari’s original directive on the payment of all Federal Government revenue into a Treasury Single Account. “In this regard, His Excellency, Mr. President has directed that all MDAs are to comply with the instructions on the Treasury Single Account (TSA) unfailingly by Tuesday, September 15, 2015. “Heads of MDAs and other arms of Government are enjoined to give this Circular the widest circulation and ensure strict compliance to avoid sanctions,” Mr. Kifasi wrote. President Buhari had on August 9 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, the measure is specifically to promote transparency and facilitate compliance with sections 80 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution. Henceforth, according to a statement at the time 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 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.