TSA derails, runs loose without enabling law

By now the avalanche of reports on breaches of the principles and processes of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the Federal Government make it crystal clear that all is not well with it. If the reports are to be taken into consideration, it then means that the TSA has derailed, not only from its founding vision, but is now running loose, apparently because of the weak foundation of compromised institutional framework, upon which it was launched.

When it was initiated by the World Bank in 2012, it was intended to assist countries like Nigeria which had fragmented fiscal processes by consolidating all government revenue into a single account under the supervision of the designated country’s apex bank, which for Nigeria is the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Its principle is that all MDAs are to operate only specifically approved bank accounts which are to be linked to the CBN domiciled TSA. Lodgments of all government revenue by the MDAs into the commercial banks becomes mandatory, as same would be transferable to the TSA electronically. Through such a process, government would have better control of its finances. Until its advent, the public till in many MDAs was out of the government’s control as any MDA was at liberty to obtain any number of bank accounts and spread available funds among such, purely at the discretion of its leadership, who in many cases diverted the funds from such accounts. Hence the present administration adopted the programme at its inception in 2015 with the intention of streamlining the fiscal culture in the country.

However, in the course of only two years of its implementation it has been corrupted and converted by unscrupulous officers in the public service to an instrument for selective distribution of the country’s patrimony, for the benefit of a few privileged leaders, as they deploy it for the perpetuation of graft and other financial sins.

Before the TSA, looters of public funds needed to pick from various loopholes in the system to amass the humongous stocks of loot that Nigerians are made to read daily with grief in the news media. With the TSA, however, the same miscreants in high and sensitive public office, as well as positions of trust simply divert wholesale, the accumulated public funds, under the auspices of the programme.

A few reports in the media qualify as iconic for the instances of and opportunities for daylight robbery of the country’s common patrimony are associated with the now derailed TSA. For instance, an adhoc committee of the House of Representatives is presently investigating the circumstances surrounding the nonremittance to the TSA by some banks of public funds, totaling N50 billion, generated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The banks cite a directive from the NNPC not to remit the funds while the NNPC claims that it acted on the strength of a memorandum written by the Chief of Staff to the President Abba Kyari, supposedly conveying Presidential approval. In the light of developments with respect to the matter, it would seem that Abba Kyari acted purely on his own, as the expected Presidential approval is yet to materialise. Beyond serving as the Chief of Staff to the President, Kyari is also a member of the Board of the NNPC.

Some of the questions raised by this development include the following. Firstly how and why did the NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr Maikanti Baru concede to Kyari and withhold public funds from being routed by designated banks to the TSA? When did Abba Kyari who as the Chief of Staff to the President is at best a personal staff of his boss constitute a statutory alternative to the President being the substantive Minister for Petroleum Affairs, and direct how money should be spent in the NNPC? It is also of public interest to know what role did the other members of the NNPC Board of Directors play? Were they mere spectators or sleeping partners in the course of this outrageous enterprise?

Beside the foregoing, with the temerity behind Kyari’s seemingly unilateral rerouting of NNPC’s finances, it is also of public interest to know how long he has been directing the affairs and in particular the finances of the NNPC as well as the extent of financial losses to the Corporation in particular and Nigerians in general due to the distortions in the command structure of the corporation, courtesy of his unlawful intervention. Are Nigerians seeing a yet to be revealed motive for planting Kyari in the NNPC, in order for him to have unfettered access to the corporation’s till, given its role as the country’s cash cow?

In any case, if the NNPC and Kyari find the TSA programme a fertile ground for diverting funds they have good company in virtually most MDAs where the TSA is operated largely in breach. It is common practice in most MDAs to isolate some revenue generating operations from the TSA schedule, by firming out such services to private contractors who share the dividends with the leaderships of such agencies.

Just as well is the management of the TSA hardly above board as it suffers a deficit of accountability among its key operatives. For instance, in Mr Anthony Ayeni the Auditor General of the Federation recently told a House of Representatives committee that the TSA had not been audited since its inception in 2015. By that situation, nobody, except perhaps the project consultants - Messrs Remita Nigeria It is, therefore, in the light of the need to restore the TSA to its original setting that its statutory framework needs to be revisited. Given the promise of the TSA for the Nigerian economy, it needs to be strengthened with an enabling law Limited – can actually state exactly how much the programme has generated, or the efficacy of its operation. At the meeting of the House Committee with Ayeni, its chairman, Honourable Abubakar Audu, volunteered the information that the sum of N4.2 trillion had been generated by the TSA since its inception. And if Audu’s figure is a reference point it constitutes a small proportion of the revenue accruing to MDAs that should have been reported and captured by TSA.

Under the circumstances, it would seem that the government has been demonstrating apparent sloppiness and is enamored just by the fact that the TSA provides control over some accounts without bothering over the more robust management of the enterprise to cover as much of government revenue as possible. This consideration remains justified given the promise of TSA in making budget implementation in the country, more streamlined.

It is, therefore, in the light of the need to restore the TSA to its original setting that its statutory framework needs to be revisited. Given the promise of the TSA for the Nigerian economy, it needs to be strengthened with an enabling law. This will spell out the scope of the exercise for all tiers of governance in the country, as well as define sanctions for violators of its code. In this respect, the ball falls squarely in the court of the National Assembly as the ultimate custodians of the country’s purse. The body should, without delay, commence the process of enacting a law to drive the operations of the TSA the enable Nigeria reap all possible benefits from this noble but so far mismanaged policy.