Experts task FG to pay banks TSA dues

By NIyi Oloaye

Some financial experts in the country have called on the Federal Government to pay Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other service providers the money due to them for services rendered under the Treasury Single Account (TSA), rather than threatening to withdraw their operating license for breach of its directive to stop mass sack of workers.

They said payment for such services will make good sums of money available to the banks to continue rendering profitable services which will in turn enable them retain some key staff, as opposed to a situation where public sector funds have been mopped up, while their service charges are being withheld.

OlabodeAdeyemi, Executive Director Africa Media Initiative on a TV program monitored in Lagos said the mop up of cash through Treasury Single Account (TSA) has affected the viability of Nigerian banks.

TSA, according to him, is like unfinished business because the Federal Government has not reciprocated the effort of service providers by releasing the accrued funds agreed upon at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Adeyemi and other stakeholders wonder why the Federal Government will be holding back a huge chunk of money that could help the business of banks and still ask them not to find a way to cut cost by threatening them for sacking some of their work force.

“Of course, as organizations that are in businesses to make profit, they must downsize. Instead of threatening banks that they must not downsize, I will encourage Mr. President to make a presidential declaration for immediate release of what is due to them and open the door for further negotiations,” Adeyemi pleaded.

He said TSA is for the best interest of the country because, apart from trimming down about 78,000 duplicated government accounts in various banks to curb fraud, it is a way of forcing the lenders to return to core business of commercial banking.

An executive of SystemSpecs Mr. UcheObiofuma, who spoke on behalf of the company’s Managing Director Mr. John Obaro, last week said his company was yet to get paid for the Treasury Single Account (TSA) applications which are currently being used by ministries, agencies and departments (MDAs) for remittance of funds to the Central Bank of Nigeria for the Federal Government. He revealed that as at February, the money said to have been remitted to CBN was put at N2.3 trillion

Meanwhile, Minister of Finance, Mrs  Kemi  Adeosun said the ministry was waiting for the conclusion of investigations of the Senate and other industry consultations to reach an agreement on what to pay for the service.

“We are waiting on the industry’s stand as to what the real charge should be, because with a N6 trillion budget, if all that money is passing through TSA, we have to have an idea of the cost throughout the year,” she had said.