The United Global Resolve for Peace, a non-governmental organization, has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari requesting the urgent and immediate review of charges on the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
The group, in addition, said it had written a letter to the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, alleging that Nigerians were illegally made to bear high charges when paying money to the government through the TSA.
The letters signed by Mr. Shalom Olaseni, Executive Director for the organization, was titled: “Treasury Single Account, Nigerians and the Federal Government of Nigeria: The Need for an Overhaul and Review of the System”.
The organization stated, in the letter to Buhari: “In the course of the discharge of our duty, we received some complaints from some Nigerian that the platform, on which the TSA is being run – REMITA, provided by Systemspecs Ltd, is ripping them off their hard earned money through the bogus service charge that was imposed on the payers.
“It is after proper investigations, wide consultation with major stakeholders on the TSA policy, and consideration of all facts and figures concerned, that we find it pertinent to inform you of the unfair and arbitrary charges imposed on the hard-working Nigerians by the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for the running and activities of the TSA.”
UGRP said it noted the chain of events that unfolded after the November 2015 senate’s sitting on the TSA project after which the Central Bank of Nigeria ordered that the service provider refund some money.
The group explained further: “We note with utmost dismay that the government has since then refused to pay the service provider and the commercial banks that helped in the smooth running of the platform until November 1, 2018, when the AGF ordered that payers bear the brunt of the service charge.”
The organization described the charges imposed by the AGF to sustain the TSA project as unfair, adding that its efforts to reach the AGF have been unsuccessful.
“Our organization has reached out to the Central Bank of Nigeria, the office of the Auditor-General and Systemspecs on this issue and they all have directed us to the office of the Accountant-General which is the custodian of the project TSA.
“All our efforts to reach the accountant-general have proven abortive and none of our several letters sent to the office of the Accountant-General has been responded to.”
The group, therefore, urged President Buhari to call for the review of the TSA charges and ensure that no political appointee was given the power to arbitrarily impose tariffs on Nigerians.
It also insisted that the President ensure the government honours the agreement made with Systemspecs LTD and fully pay the money owed, and a complete overhaul of the service charge for the running of the TSA. (SaharaReporters)
