How Remita emerged as gateway technology for TSA – FG
The Federal Government yesterday said Remita, a SystemSpecs Limited’s financial solutions provider, was selected as gateway technology for the Treasury Single Account (TSA) after series of deliberations at various stages.
Director of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Salawu Zubairu, stated this during a training session for a delegation from the Gambia, chaired by Director of TSA, Sylva Okolieaboh, at the Office of Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF).
The Gambian team, led by the country’s Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Ada Gaye and Accountant General, Momodou Lamin Bah, visited Nigeria to understudy the implementation of its TSA.
Zubairu, who was Director of OAGF between January 2016 and February 2017 as the Team Lead for the development and implementation of the TSA, explained that Remita was chosen after considering the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), which was owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and deposit money banks (DMBs).
It was reported that Remita and NIBSS made several presentations to the joint evaluation committee before Remita was chosen as the platform to effectively address the requirements expected by OAGF, CBN and external consultants to support TSA e-payment and e-collection of government receipts.
“Essentially, our arrangement was that CBN should provide the gateway. But when it became clear that the apex bank would not be able to provide that, we had to engage NIBBS, which is owned by CBN and all commercial banks in Nigeria, and SystemSpecs, which is a private company. At the end of the day SystemSpecs was selected.”
“The decision was essentially made by the CBN, even though we at the OAGF were part of the process. It is the CBN that takes responsibility for providing gateway,” he said.
Speaking, Okolieaboh explained that there were exemptions to the TSA and how technology is essential for driving the system.
“As long as you can have access online, you can connect to the TSA,” he said, adding that although the TSA is centralised, transactions and reconciliations on it have been decentralised.
Also, a consultant on Public Policy and former Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms took the delegates through various reforms Nigeria had implemented in the past and their impact in the country.
“There are so many approaches you can take on reform, but I think, whatever approach you use, the citizens must see a tangible improvement.
“When we first computerised our payroll, we discovered about 65,000 ghost workers. When we linked account verification numbers to them, we identified an additional 23,000 multiple payees. These were not ghost workers but workers collecting money from multiple points,” he said.
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