Lagos adopts treasury single account for govt transactions

By Oluwole Farotimi
IN an effort to ensure proper accountability and transparency in govern­ment’s accrued revenues, the Lagos State Gover­nor, Akinwunmi Ambode has approved the opera­tion of a single account in the state effective Sep­tember 1, 2015.
In a statement issued by the Permanent Secre­tary/Accountant General of the state, Mrs. Abim­bola Umar, the state gov­ernment took the decision to address the challenges previously faced with the operation of the multiple account system.
The statement said the operation of a Treasury Single Account (TSA) aside providing transpar­ency and accountabil­ity would also encourage taxpayers to request for a single account before making their payments.
The development is in line with the objective of the move by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Gov­ernment under President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that all govern­ment revenue accrues to one consolidated ac­count.
In addition, all the af­fected revenue collecting banks have been mandat­ed to immediately close all existing multiple rev­enue accounts domiciled in their banks to give room for a single revenue accounting system in line with the accountability and transparency policy of the current administra­tion.
“With this develop­ment, it is expected that all parastatals, local gov­ernments and establish­ments will commence the operation of the TSA on September 1, 2015,” the statement said.