Kamale in the motion noted that the TSA is a financial policy being implemented by the Federal Government to consolidate all inflows from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) into one single account maintained by the Central Bank of Nigeria with the aim of ensuring accountability of government revenues, enhance transparency and avoid misappropriation and misapplication of public funds.
He said that “though section 80 (1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that “all revenues or other moneys raised or received by the Federation (not being revenues or other moneys payable under this Constitution or any Act of the National Assembly into any other public fund of the Federation established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation”, successive governments continued to operate multiple accounts for the lodgement of government revenues in flagrant disregard to the provision of the Constitution.
The lawmaker explained that “in 2012, the Federal Government ran a pilot scheme for a single account using 217 Ministries, Departments and Agencies as a case study, and the success of the scheme motivated the present Government to fully implement the TSA effective 15 September, 2015, leading to directives to banks to implement the technology platform that will help accommodate all MDAs in the TSA scheme”.
He described the introduction of the TSA as laudable as it would help to improve the process of collection of revenues and engender timely settlement of matured government commitments.
This he believes would facilitate project completion and service delivery on schedule;
Kamale however noted with worry that some establishments are still left out of the TSA platform.
He also noted that, “Section 80 (1) of the Constitution regarding maintenance of Federation Account provides a broad legal framework, it does not address the operational details, and concerns have been raised by the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) about the possible sharing of TSA funds among the tiers of government”.
The House however, commended the Federal Government for implementing the Treasury Single Account as a strategic device to curb corruption and enhance accountability in the management of public expenditure.
