During a recent appearance before the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) defended the selection of Remita for its electronic payment platform. Hamisu Abdullahi, the Director of Banking Services at CBN, emphasized that Remita was chosen based on merit for its role in facilitating payments from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to beneficiary accounts across commercial banks.
The committee, chaired by Bamidele Salaam, is investigating alleged revenue leakages and non-adherence to service level agreements related to Remita's operation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) platform.
Abdullahi explained, "The CBN was directed to provide an electronic platform that would facilitate payments on behalf of MDAs to beneficiaries' accounts in the commercial banks." He added, "CBN deemed it fit to source for an alternative way of doing this and engaged two companies, and out of the two, Remita was selected based on merit and the fact that they had been rendering similar services to commercial banks."
Remita emerged as the preferred platform for managing the TSA after a rigorous evaluation process that included other candidates like the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS). Salawu Zubairu, the former Director of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), had previously stated that Remita was chosen based on its superior capabilities in handling TSA's electronic payments and collection of government receipts.
According to Mr. 'Deremi Atanda, the Managing Director of Remita Payment Services Limited, the TSA initiative has streamlined government revenue collection and expenditure processes, eliminating inefficiencies and enhancing transparency. He highlighted how the TSA has helped the government track and account for every single transaction through a unique Remita Retrieval Reference (RRR) code assigned to each revenue inflow.
The TSA has been instrumental in uncovering and removing approximately 70,000 non-existent employees from the civil service payroll, resulting in savings of at least N220 billion through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), according to Dr. Dasuki Arabi, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms.
The TSA has been praised for its role in Nigeria's financial reform, governance enhancement, and anti-corruption drive. It has helped eliminate ghost workers and reduce financial discrepancies. Mr. Atanda emphasized the importance of adhering to the TSA's original intent of consolidating all government inflows and outflows, regardless of currency, to prevent diversion of federal government's foreign exchange revenues.
As Nigeria strives for economic stability, ensuring that all government forex revenue collections occur within the TSA framework is crucial. This will help prevent the diversion of forex revenues and support the government's efforts to prevent the devaluation of the Naira amid increased demand for the US Dollar.
