We introduced Treasury Single Account to curb irregularities — Buhari

By Matthew Denis Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has explained why the Treasury Single Account was opened by his administration to curb corruption and irregularities in the country.

According to the President, the TSA was opened to address irregularities, ensure accountability, curb the incessant number of accounts and enable the tracking of all government revenues.

Buhari disclosed this on Tuesday at the third National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector.

“When we came into government, we found out that some institutions had hundreds of accounts. How can the Accountant General trace them?

“So, we introduced the Treasury Single Account so that all revenues will be followed and directed to it. This is a very positive way of making sure that revenues can be traced to Treasury Single Account and therefore be accounted for,” Buhari said.

The President speaking on ways to address the critical challenge of the high cost of governance vowed that all ghost workers will be severely punished and those who have engaged in illegal recruitments and those who pad their personal payrolls.

He said further that, “Government has noted that some MDAs have devised fraudulent practice of presenting new projects as ongoing projects.”

He promised that necessary action and sanctions will continue against the heads of such erring MDAs.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha also at the event affirmed that the current administration is determined to curb unnecessary expenditure hence reducing the cost of governance touted as a major contribution to corruption in the country.

The Treasury Single Account according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the operation of a unified structure of Government Bank Accounts, in a single account or a set of linked accounts for all government payments and receipts.