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CIBN declares support for TSA, urges efficiency

By Chijioke Nelson
28 February 2017   |   3:46 am
The President of CIBN, Prof. Segun Ajibola, who made the observations at TSA retreat in Abuja, said the institute is aligned to the spirit and letter of the initiative.

Prof. Segun Ajibola, President and Chairman of Council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.

The assessed high-level sanity recorded in both public and private practices due to the operations of Treasury Single Account (TSA), has attracted the commendations of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

This is coming just as issues of unethical practices among banks, with regards to the management of public funds in their possession have remained topical.

It however, sought the extension of the initiative to other areas of our national life where “parasites, pests and locusts still operate freely” and feeding fat on the commonwealth.

The President of CIBN, Prof. Segun Ajibola, who made the observations at TSA retreat in Abuja, said the institute is aligned to the spirit and letter of the initiative.

He noted that one of the key mandates of CIBN is to promote ethics and professionalism among banking and finance practitioners in Nigeria, corporate and individuals.

“CIBN therefore supports the introduction of TSA as a vehicle for instilling sanity in the management of public funds and promoting fiscal and monetary discipline. This way, TSA is a tool for fighting the hydra headed corruption in our public and private lives.

“And by benchmarking international best practices in the management of public funds, Nigeria would have gone a step further in improving its transparency parameters in the eyes of the comity of nations,” he said.

The don however, pointed out that as novel as the initiative is, a deluge of challenges have trailed it, particularly on timing of its introduction and the speed of implementation, amid macro economic problems that have left banks in difficulty.

According to him, a phased implementation of the withdrawal of public funds from the banks would have helped to stem the current fledging position of our financial system.

He recommended that government should intensify efforts in the on-going restructuring of the economic environment, particularly in staying away from business ownership.

“Privatization of government ownership in critical sectors of the economy – oil drilling and exploration, oil refinery, transportation, iron and steel, shipping and admiralty would leave government with less cash to ponder about,” he added.

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