TSA: President Buhari Turned Down By National Assembly

The Treasury Single Account (TSA) being implemented by President Muhammadu Buhari tends to have met some obstacle, as Nigeria’s federal legislature has said it would not be part of the initiative.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s TSA programme tends not to go down well with the National Assembly

According to Daily Post, the federal legislature made its stance known on Monday, January 4.
It will be recalled that Buhari had during last Wednesday’s media chat, said he was having challenges with the National Assembly over the TSA.
“We are having problems with them (National Assembly) on TSA. We have to have a closed door session with them,” the president said.

In reaction, both chambers said such would amount to, “surrendering of their autonomy to the executive.”
Spokesperson of the Senate, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, told Daily Trust that “There is no trouble on TSA, it is as an executive programme and we cannot surrender our autonomy to the executive.
“Submitting ourselves to the TSA is surrendering our autonomy to the executive. We are on the first line charge as guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Why should we give you our funds to put in the TSA and then we will be subjected to your own control, is that autonomy?”
“That is just the issue; we’ve given our total support to the TSA programme. As far as we are concerned, we cannot subject ourselves to it because it amounts to mortgaging our autonomy.
“Our autonomy is guaranteed by the constitution and how our money should be paid is also guaranteed by the constitution.
“Are we saying our autonomy should be jettisoned? Are we a revenue generating arm? Are we saying that the constitution should be jettisoned, because somebody wants to do TSA? Are we going to put the Constitution aside and follow somebody’s wish? What we are following is constitutional,” Abdullahi said.
Similarly, spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Abdulrazak Sa’ad Namdas insisted that the TSA remains an executive policy.
“Every arm of government has its ways of operations. The issue of TSA is an executive matter, and in as much as we want to work together with the executive for good governance, we are not part of TSA for now,” Namdas stressed.

The Speaker of the National Assembly (NASS), Yakubu Dogara, also confirmed that the NASS has not participated in the TSA.
In a series of public tweets on Sunday, January 3, Dogara’s response to a Sahara Reporters tweet, pointed out that Senate President Bukola Saraki and Dogara have refused to place NASS finances under TSA.
The tweet is said to have prompted outrage by many Nigerians who expect greater transparency from the NASS.