Blocking Financial Leakages Through The Treasury Single Account (TSA) In Osun….The Oyetola Intervention

By Kingsley Omoyeni

In all developed societies of the world, revenue generation and disbursement for the growth and development of the society by the government in power should be handled with prudence and all the seriousness it deserves because without the proper management of incoming funds there can not be a serious government in place to provide for the needs of the people.

Generating the funds is on one hand, ensuring that the funds are not embezzled or mismanaged through corrupt practices is very important for the government to be able to put the funds into proper use. In all things involving humans and funds, if not properly managed, there is definitely going to loopholes for leakages and at the end of the day such funds will disappear into tin air.

It is in a bid to avoid leakages and use generated funds to better the lives of Osun people that the Adebgoyega Oyetola administration in Osun is taking steps to ensure that all government agencies, parastatals and all other stake holders key into the policy of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) which was first introduced by the federal government around year 2012.

It is important to first have an idea of how the treasury single account TSA operates and it’s many advantages to the economic growth and development of any society that has a government that is truly determined to make life better for the common masses who are more in number.

Firstly, the treasury single account is a public accounting system whereby government receipt, revenue and income are collected into one single account which the government uses for the maintenance and management of funds on such account, it is a system designed to enable all government account to be unified, to enable the ministry of finance to maintain oversight of government cash-flow in and out of the TSA account.

The TSA account structure is also designed in a way that it can contain ledger-sub account in a single banking institution, which is the government account in this case. However it can accommodate external zero account in a number of commercial banks underlining exclusion of some sectors.

No government agency is saddled with the oversight of the account except, the treasury, while the consolidation of government cash resources is comprehensive such that it contains all government cash resources, both budgetary and extra-budgetary. This means that all public revenue irrespective of whether the corresponding cash flows are subject to budgetary control.

The different TSA account types include main account; subsidiary or sub-account; transaction account; zero balance account; imprest account; transit and correspondence accounts for different transaction purposes, it helps check incidence of multiple accounts operated by government MDAs for collection and spending of government revenues.

Furthermore, it is a system that will ensure adequate monitoring of government revenue receipts and expenditures and block leakages, as no MDA is allowed to keep any operational bank account because it will not allow the incidence of idle cash lying over extended periods in bank accounts held by spending MDAs, while government continues to borrow to execute its budgets.

The direct implications of operating the Treasury Single Account is that it enhances the management of cash flow and bring about an established chain of command which actually shut the of leakages in the system as it helps in reducing volatility in cash through the treasury, thus allowing for relatively lower cash reserve buffer.

To pay money under TSA, depositors make payment to a transit account in a commercial bank and the funds are automatically remitted at intervals, say at the end of the business day or at more frequent intervals, its a scheme which covers all MDAs as well as other institutions and parastatals that collect revenues and monies payable to the state government of Osun including all forms of receipts, refunds, operating surpluses, transfers, donations, over-payment, taxes etc.

The state government of Osun under Mr Adegboyega Oyetola has set the machinery in motion to fortify and improve the operation of the TSA in Osun through the state Ministry of Finance headed by Mr Bola Oyebamiji. The state government is determined to ensure that all stakeholders key into the vision and generate funds and see that such funds are not mismanaged or embezzled by government officials.

The Ministry of Finance through the Supervisor, Mr Bola Oyebamiji has held series of meetings with partner banks and other financial institutions as well as with government agencies and parastatals including state owned tertiary institutions all in a bid to ensure that the state of Osun is fully TSA compliant so that government can block leakages and have enough to carry out it’s promises to the people.

The state’s blended TSA model has been working seamlessly and has become even more effective through the various technologies adopted. In an attempt to ensure that no account is left un-captured into the TSA mesh, the state embarked on another inventory with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems all in a bid to ensure that the system is sanitized and work efficiently and effectively for the benefit of all in the state. The same approach was used to get a list of all historic accounts belonging to all the state’s tertiary institutions, while the state Ministry of Finance directed all the tertiary institutions to present all of their accounts previously or currently operated.

Having gone through all these, the state roled out some steps for tertiary institutions to comply with: higher institutions are expected to present all corresponding commercial bank accounts with ties to any Micro-Finance Bank account so as to ensure that the implementation of this policy does not terminate the operations of Micro Finance banks in the state, higher institutions are to call for statements of all accounts identified by Ministry of Finance outside those presented by the institutions, the state ministry of finance and the institutions are to nominate lead/co-lead revenue collection bank accounts followed with a warning that no institution should operate any account outside those nominated for TSA operations. Funds in every other account are to be consolidated into lead banks account followed by a directive to close down left over account while profiling of accounts will be a continuous exercise.

With this model, all transactions within the state shall be transparent to the office of the Accountant General and the state Ministry of Finance and will also provide stakeholders with a broad control of all resources. Some transactions within a predefined threshold may also be subjected to the approval of the commissioner for finance. If this model is properly implemented, all institutions’ revenue would be inside the range of the ministry of finance and could also be reported on the state’s Internal revenue systems.

It is now evidently clear that the Adegboyega Oyetola administration is a prudent one that is ready to employ all means necessary to better the lives of Osun residents and at the same time be accountable for every kobo spent. Osun residents should be rest assured that they have a governor in whom they can continue trust.

Kingsley Omoyeni is the Information Officer For Osun Ministry Of Finance.