So I was sharing with my followers on
twitter some few nights ago how I
experienced TSA in reality.
It happened on a very hot Tuesday
afternoon when I was stopped by officers of
the Federal Road Safety Commission while
driving on a street in Lagos without my seat
belt. Immediately I was stopped, I knew the
offence I committed already and wasted no
time in complying by handing over my
Driver’s Licence to them as requested.
Despite my plea of rushing to make an
important appointment, I was issued an
offence ticket on the spot and given a code
they called RRR, whatever that means, to go
pay the sum of 2,000 Naira at the bank and
come back for my Licence. See ehn… This
country is already moving forward, I was
fascinated by the way technology is
supporting and improving the operations of
the FRSC; on-spot ticketing.
Not to elongate the story, I went straight to
the closest bank to make the payment,
where I was directed to a teller in charge of
TSA payments and returned to the FRSC
office for my Driver’s Licence.
Before now, such payments would have
gone into a private account. Especially in a
case like mine, where I could have settled
my way out of it, in the first place.
The last time anyone heard anything major
about Treasury Single Account (TSA) of the
Federal Government of Nigeria was when
President Buhari in his commemorative
Democracy Day speech saidGovernment had
boldly implemented it and by so doing is
“stopping the leakages in public
expenditure.”The other major time TSA
gained public attention was ina controversial
allegation made concerning iton the floor of
red chambers of the National Assembly.
That allegation has however now been
proven as untrue, by the Senate itself!
However, despite the media attention and
snippet mentions of TSA, many Nigerians
remain in the dark about this major account
of the federal government, into which all
income of the federal government accrue
and from which all government spending are
carried out. Many are unaware that the
continued success of TSA holds the key to
positive transformation of their lives and the
country in general. It is even sad to realise
that most Nigerians do not know that this
government account is under threat of
failing because of the federal government’s
non-payment of more than 16 months
agreed collection fees to the providers of
the services that powersthe scheme.
One of the challenges that have bedevilled
Nigeria over the years and hindered her
from attaining her potentials is endemic
corruption, which has almost become
second nature – even in official circles!
Riding one of his campaign promises, which
is to bring an end—or at best, reduce it to
an inconsequential level—to corruption,
President MohammaduBuhari had instructed
the implementation of TSA across all
federal government agencies. By so doing,
with the instrumentality of the TSA, the
federal government has been able to reduce
corruption in the public and civil services.
This is so because details of funds kept
within the TSA can be accessed by each
agency that holds a TSA account, as well as
the Office of the Accountant General of the
Federation and the Ministry of Finance. And
no spending can be made out the purview of
government. Similarly, all income into
government’s account paid to any Ministry,
Department or Agency of the federal
government can be tracked with precise
details, such as payer, purpose, time, place,
etc of payment, right from the point of
payment.
It is obvious that the 2016 budget is a
budget of the people. Some analysts already
consider it to be daring especially at such a
time as this, when many nations are
experiencing tough times.Such people’s
position is even fortified by the current
weak (howbeit surging) state of the Naira,
among many other factors. However, it does
appear that this government is right in its
convictions that the best time to “plant” is
during a “famine”; hence the audacious
budget, the highest in the history of Nigeria.
But all that is planned may well go down the
drain.
Not too long ago, President Muhammadu
Buhari launched social
interventionprogrammes, which he described
as “by far the most ambitious social
protection programme in our history.” The
programme is aimed at reducing poverty to
the barest minimum and “creating the
opportunity for people to fend for
themselves.” This programme would reach
all segments of the nation – young and old,
educated or not.
The only funding conduit of all projects of
this government is the Treasury Single
Account, through which all accounts of the
federal government can be viewed on one
consolidated screen. The success of these
programmes isdependent on the continued
implementation of TSA; and any damage
done to TSA is a damage done to all these
beautiful projects. Hence, all Nigerians must
ensure the success of TSA if we want
posterity to speak well of us, especially as
our future is also in the plans of
Government. One must not forget to
mention that all these would create ripple
effect on the economy, especially as it
concerns employment and preparation of
our young jewels for a future that surpasses
our present and past.
The 2016 Appropriation Act did not become
a law until May 2016, five months into the
year. Time is short, yet of essence. At this
crucial period in the annals of our history,
we cannot afford to have slack of any sort.
The slacks of the past are enough for a
lifetime! All agencies of Government have to
maximally deliver all programmes of
government and must be properly monitored
to be doing so.With TSA, Government can
achieve this, without going through the usual
hassles of requesting and flipping through
banks statements.
Through the single consolidated account,
the performances of all government
agencies, in line with the strategic
programmes of government, can be
monitored to ensure that every agency of
government lives up to its responsibilities.
And when lagging agencies are discovered,
the exact areas of non-performance are
identified and consequently remedied. It is
good to also note that, through this account,
government can know how much each of its
agencies has in its account and the total
fund summation in all of Government’s
account, per time, without going to the bank
– only by the click of a button.
Above all, one must reinstate that TSA is
about the present, but beyond it. Whilst
providing government an authoritative
foothold of its finance, government is able
to plan for the future based how much it
has in its accounts and its expected income.
With this, the present government can
correct mistakes of the past and generally
better the lot of every Nigerian.
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