Professor Olufemi Peters, Vice-Chancellor, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has said the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) in federal universities will ensure transparency and accountability in the university system.
This was as he said the essence of the TSA was to align the funding and expense system of the federal universities with all other Federal Government agencies.
Professor Peters said these while speaking as the Guest Lecturer at the 2024 Alumni Lecture of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association, held at the University of Ibadan.
He disclosed that, based on the principle of cash and treasury, the TSA was designed to check incidence of multiple accounts operated by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAS) for collection and spending of government revenues.
Recall that the pilot TSA Scheme commenced in 2012 under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, using a unified structure of accounting for 217 MDAs for accountability and transparency in public fund management.
The scheme was extended in 2017 by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to the federal universities and other tertiary institutions.
Professor Peters spoke on the topic, “The Unintended Consequences of Federal Government’s Policies In Federal Universities in Nigeria”, and also admitted to the challenges associated with the TSA in the universities.
He said the purpose of the TSA, among others, was to ensure adequate monitoring of government revenue receipts and expenditures and block leakages, as no MDA is allowed to keep any operational bank account.
The NOUN Vice-Chancellor said the major intent of implementing the TSA for federal universities was to align the funding and expense system of the institutions with all other federal agencies.
To achieve this, the university administrator said the TSA “consolidates all government financial transactions into a single account with the objective to enhance transparency and accountability.
He said further: “TSA centralises all financial resources to help manage finances, track revenue receipts and expenditures, and ensure compliance with financial regulations and guidelines.
“The objective is to improve financial management, enhance efficiency and effectiveness in managing finances of universities.
“TSA reduces financial leakages and instances of fraud because it is centrally-controlled and monitoring could be easy.
“TSA provides the necessary data the necessary data to guide decision-making, budget planning and implementation. The objective being to facilitate strategic planning and budgeting.
“TSA facilitates the implementation of government’s financial policies for universities to align with the broader government’s financial management policies and objectives, promoting consistency and coherence in financial practices across institutions.
“TSA prevents the erstwhile incidence of idle cash from unutilised balances and reduces the cost and incidence of borrowing to fund institutions and attendant cases of profiteering at the expense of government.”
Professor Peters therefore declared: “Viewed within well-intentioned desire of the Federal Government to have all its resources and financial expenditure items within its bird’s eye view, this should be a laudable project.”
He however identified the challenges encountered during the implementation of TSA to include perceived loss of autonomy and control; problems of compliance and accountability; administrative burden; problem of cash flow management; difficulty in changing old habits and differing internal operation mechanisms.
The NOUN Vice-Chancellor also listed some unintended consequences of TSA on the federal universities, impacting negatively and positively on various aspects of their operations, including academic programmes and overall functioning.
He stated that the unintended negative consequences included delay in access to funds and erosion of autonomy and academic freedom.
On the positive side, he added that following the implementation of TSA, federal universities now have a central data source; compatibility and uniformity of financial management systems; and capacity-building and infrastructure investment.
To address the unintended consequences of the TSA on the federal universities, Professor Peters recommended regular monitoring and evaluation to allow policy-makers to make timely adjustments and mitigate negative effects.
The NOUN Vice-Chancellor also advocated stakeholder engagement; flexibility and adaptability; data-driven decision-making; and transparency and communication.
He noted that incorporation of all the recommendations can proactively address the unintended consequences of TSA and other policies and improve the overall quality and effectiveness of the university system.
