Playing Politics with Treasury Single Account
Much as I agree that the TSA will help to curb corruption in the MDAs, it should not be used to strangulate them. There is an urgent need to judiciously free the trillions in the TSA to reflate our economy
The decision of the Buhari administration to commence the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) is commendable. The Jonathan administration that initiated the project could not fully implement it until it left office. The TSA is intended to effectively and efficiently monitor the revenue and expenditures of ministries, departments and agencies of the federal government and reduce corruption. It is also meant to prevent the MDAs from spending money on ludicrous projects. According to the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, transfers into the TSA, as at last week Thursday had peaked at about N2.9 trillion. She also disclosed that the federal government had only recently opened up the TSA for agencies’ access, and that the universities are yet to have access to their monies in the account. The federal government has been celebrating this. As laudable as the implementation is, it has had its drawback. I have strong reservations about the implementation of the TSA so far. I think Nigerians are being deceived to think that padlocking the money is progress. They tell those who don’t understand the technicalities of the TSA that the nation now has such a huge amount of money in the TSA. Money remitted into the TSA is not operating profits of the MDAs and should not be locked up. The MDAs are expected to use their money in the TSA to fund their operations. Many even take grants from the government to augment this revenue. Of course, with strict monitoring, some of them will end up with surplus at the end of the financial year. It is only such surplus that is transferred to the federation account. This is what can be regarded as operating profit, to be shared by all tiers of government.
Ordinarily, the TSA is never steady, as money goes in and out of it for the daily operations of the MDAs. But what this administration did for many months was to completely deny the MDAs access to the TSA. The money in the TSA is rising while the economy suffers. As a result of the restriction on the TSA, activities of most departments and agencies have almost been grounded. For example, because of the restrictions, the Nigerian Ports Authority and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria are struggling to maintain their facilities. The federal government-owned higher institutions are also badly affected as the schools struggle to function properly. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is also struggling with the importation of petroleum products because of the TSA restrictions.
The truth that must be told is that over 4000 MDAs are gasping for breath because of the restrictions on their revenue in the TSA. This policy that was adopted ostensibly to ensure transparency and avoid misapplication of public funds, now constitutes a clog in the wheel of progress of these MDAs. With a collapse of many department and agencies imminent, what the government did last week was to allow the MDAs limited access to their money in the TSA. As at the time of going to press, federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education still don’t have access to their funds in the TSA. These institutions are wringing. They are finding it difficult discharging their core responsibilities of teaching and research. Just as the Academic Staff Union of Universities pointed out recently, our higher institutions have no business with TSA. It will only compound the woes of these tattered schools. Dr Nasir Isa, President of ASUU recently stated: “TSA has made it difficult for the universi- ties to discharge their duties, especially in research. TSA is incompatible with the autonomy of universities.”
What has been the impact of the TSA on the economy? What has been the impact of this huge amount of money locked up? The truth is that it has exacerbated our economic woes. The money that should be used to reflate our battered economy is locked up in the vault of the Central Bank of Nigeria. This is one of the many reasons our economy is bleeding. Just imagine the multiplier effect of about N3 trillion on the economy if the MDAS are operating maximally with their money in the TSA. Our MDAs are failing and all nonsensical restrictions on the TSA must be removed so that they can operate optimally. This talk about so much money in the TSA is bogus and must stop. It is just like a man whose family is struggling to get a meal a day, but goes about bragging that he has millions of Naira in the bank. Much as I agree that the TSA will help to curb corruption in the MDAs, it should not be used to strangulate them. There is an urgent need to judiciously free the trillions in the TSA to reflate our economy.