• Claims it has not ditched Remita but needs to enhance TSA 
• Experts call for real-time monitoring to enable faster detection of irregularities
 
The Federal Government may have concluded plans to migrate payment for public services from Remita to a new platform, the Treasury Management and Revenue Assurance System (TMRAS).
 
TMRAS is already being seen as part of President Bola Tinubu’s search for a more efficient revenue mobilisation framework, to curb leakages in public resources and boost revenues.
 
The sudden change comes over a year after the National Assembly launched an inquiry into the operations of Remita over allegations bordering on non-remittance of generated revenues among others.
 
Whereas the findings of the investigation have not been made public, there are insinuations that the government may have sufficient reasons to find a replacement.
 
Of course, Remita, over the years, improved the revenue collection process and tracking since 2012. Still, its operations were sometimes fraught with glitches, with some users calling it out for poor performance.   A change may not address moral issues responsible for continued leakages in revenue collection agencies as well as system rigidities .
 
However, the government claimed the new platform is not intended to replace Remita but complement it to enhance revenue collection by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
   
The development has unsettled stakeholders, even as it has deepened the level of anxiety within the system with experts observing that the explanation offered so far for the sudden change of platform leaves much to be desired.   
   
They are of the opinion that the Federal Government should provide more clarification on the real reason behind the sudden change. They fear that the government may implement the new platform haphazardly because of inadequate planning.
   
According to them, while payment platforms play a role in financial management, it is unlikely that the core problems of transparency and accountability in government revenue management solely reside in the platform itself.  
    
A statement from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation clarified that it has not discarded Remita as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) approved payment gateway. It explained that Remita would rather be integrated into the TMRAS alongside other eligible Payment Solution Service Providers (PSSPs) for government revenue collection and remittances to enhance liberalisation.  
   
The Office said the TMRAS policy was developed in line with the directives of the President and the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to achieve effective treasury revenue assurance and improved budget performance of all MDAs and government-owned enterprises (GOEs).  
   
According to the OAGF, “The TMRAS is designed to coordinate, streamline and manage Federal Government’s revenue collections and payments for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
 
“It will guarantee the liberalisation of government revenue payment processes, enhance revenue collections and aid efficient, timely analysis of the information regarding such transactions.”   
   
While there are speculations that the Federal Government has terminated its 13-year contract with Remita as its payment gateway with the introduction of TMRAS, the OAGF explained that Remita was one of the secured channels of revenue payment.
     
“The TMRAS will now allow these other secure payment platforms to connect. So, it will not be only Remita, but all the other payment services providers that are licensed by the CBN will be able to operate,” he stated.   
     
The OAGF noted that this was to allay the fears of revenue payers and the general public.
 “Remita remains the only approved payment gateway for Federal Government payments and revenue collection for at least two months, but the government is working to take over the management of the front-end payment infrastructure and expand the collection system to accommodate other Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licensed Payment Solution Services Providers (PSSPs),” he stated.
   
The government said the new payment platform is designed to revolutionise revenue collection across MDAs and will make revenue management in the country more efficient and transparent.   
    
It said TMRAS is tailored to enhance revenue collection by streamlining payment processes within government departments, adding that TMRAS is anticipated to enhance both transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s revenue management.   
    
The new platform, according to the government, will automatically deduct and remit taxes linked to vendor and contractor payments like value-added tax (VAT) and withholding tax.    
    
It noted that by removing the need for manual mandates, TMRAS would better manage public funds, ensuring prompt remittance to the Federal Government’s account as well as the agencies involved.   
    
The government noted that the launch of TMRAS is part of Nigeria’s larger agenda to digitise public services and improve government operations. Remita, developed by an indigenous tech company, SystemSpecs, has served as the gateway for the Treasury Single Account (TSA) of the Nigerian government since 2012. It has enabled the government to keep track of all its revenues across all its MDAs.
    
Commenting on the new payment platform, some experts said a payment platform is just a tool whose effectiveness depends on how it’s used and the underlying processes it supports.
 
Simply changing platforms doesn’t guarantee transparency if the processes remain opaque or if there’s a lack of enforcement, they said. They added that transparency and accountability are often hampered by systemic issues such as weak internal controls, lack of independent oversight, corruption and fraud, inadequate record-keeping as well as lack of political will to enforce regulations.   Prof. Godwin Oyedokun of Lead City University said the accuracy and reliability of the data inputted into any payment platform are crucial.
   
“Even the most sophisticated system is useless if the data is flawed,” he said, adding: “Ultimately, people are responsible for managing public funds. No platform can eliminate the potential for human error or intentional wrongdoing.”
     
He said the only thing a new platform could address are improved data aggregation and reporting capabilities, which then make it easier to track revenue flows and identify discrepancies. He noted that a more secure platform could help prevent unauthorised access and fraud.
    
Other features he said could be real-time monitoring to enable faster detection of irregularities, while increased automation could reduce the likelihood of human error.
  
 He said to truly achieve transparency and accountability, it is important to implement robust internal controls to prevent fraud and errors, conduct regular independent audits to verify the accuracy of financial records, make financial information readily available to the public, hold individuals and organizations accountable for violations of financial regulations, among others.  Oyedokun said while the TMRAS could be a positive step, it’s just one piece of the puzzle.
 
“Sustainable improvements in transparency and accountability require a comprehensive approach that addresses the underlying systemic issues,” he said.
 Also reacting, Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Eze Onyekpere, said changing the revenue or payment platform will be more expensive and may not necessarily solve all the challenges.  
  
According to him, filling the gaps in the existing system may have been a better option. “Nigeria’s challenge is about concrete development challenges and not simply a focus on firms and platforms,” he said.
    
While TMRAS is coming with high expectations, a tech expert who wishes not to be named warns that its centralized system could be an attractive target for cybercriminals, posing risks like data breaches and unauthorized access.  
     
To counter these threats, they suggest that strong security measures such as two-factor authentication and risk-based authentication for third-party access should be embedded.
  
“Encryption and secure storage of sensitive documents will also be crucial to safeguard against unauthorised access,” he suggested.