The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may soon sanction some Deposit Money Banks (DMB) over improper remittances of revenues they collected on behalf of the federal government to the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
It was claimed that billions of government revenues are hoarded in the banks without being sent to the appropriate destination. So far, it has been reported that more than N5 trillion government revenue was remitted by the banks to the TSA since the commencement of the policy.
But due to the allegation of improper remittances by the banks, the Director of Funds, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, (OAGF) Mr. Alexander Adeyemi approved the auditing of the entire TSA since its commencement. Apart from the poor remittances by the DMBs, there is also concern over the exact balance in the account.
Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Ernst & Young have been assigned to audit the entire TSA so that any money that is still remaining in commercial banks would be recovered.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has also mandated the CBN and the OAGF to provide detailed reconciliation and audit reports of the amounts generated so far in the TSA within 6 weeks, ending November 10th.
The Abubakar Danburam-led ad hoc committee investigating the status of the TSA, at the House of Reps, said the November 10 deadline remained sacrosanct, adding that no bank is excluded as long as they have MDAs’ accounts with them.
All the banks have also been mandated to use the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) revenue reference number for all revenue collected through Remita platform into the TSA.
GIFMIS is a computer based system for budget management and accounting that is being implemented by the Federal Government to improve Public Expenditure Management processes, enhance greater accountability and transparency across ministries and agencies.
This follows the CBN circular to the DMBs recently signed by the Director of Banking and Payment Systems Department, Dipo Fatokun. According to the circular, beginning from October 1st all the banks must use electronic means for all their revenue inflows into the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
“We have noticed that the use of the GIFMIS revenue reference number is not being adhered to, thereby making it almost impossible for the OAGF to reconcile revenues collected to the TSA,” Fatokun’s circular noted.
“With effect from October 1, 2017, all DMBs are to ensure mandatory use of the GIFMIS Revenue Reference numbers at the point of revenue collection into the TSA.”
The CBN described the move as part of its efforts to boost revenue collection by properly classifying receipts and to ease reconciliation.
Reacting, after a Federal High Court, Lagos judgment that ordered the refund millions of dollars belongs to FG/ NNPC alleged to be hidden by them, some banks said all their records are clean on TSA remittances.
