NNPC, 13 others exempted from TSA

By Odunewu Segun

Thirteen Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have been exempted from Treasury Single Account directive issued by the President, a source in Abuja told National Daily.
This is contained in a circular issued by the The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria line with the e-collection and mop up exercise by the federal government, the source disclosed.
A circular from the AGF’s office to the The Director, Central Bank of Nigeria, Banking & Payments System Department, on September 14 made these exceptions, though it has not been announced.
By virtue of this circular, the following bodies will not be subject to the TSA: NNPC, PHCN, BOI, Railways, Mortgage Bank, Bank of Agriculture, NIPP, Galaxy Backbone, Ajaokuta Stell, Niger Delta Power, Urban Development Bank, NEXIM and Transcorp Hilton.
The decision to exempt these MDA’s is not unconnected with the fact that the concerned MDA’s due to their mode of operation cannot work with the directive, experts argued. For instance, customers deal directly with these agencies in the area of payment, and that it is going to be difficult to ask these customers to pay to the streamline account with the CBN.
According to an insider, government is working on modalities on how to sort the issue out; in the meantime, it is preserving the status quo with these agencies while others will be sanctioned if they failed to comply with the directive.