The Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris has called on the Leadership of the National Assembly to allow for Treasury Single Account (TSA) operation and implementation in the federal legislature.
The National Assembly early January said it was not interested in TSA.
Its spokesperson, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, had said, “Submitting ourselves to the TSA is surrendering our autonomy to the executive. 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?”
But on Thursday, Idris, asked both chambers to reconsider.
He made the appeal when he received committee members on Public Account when they visited the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) as part of their mandate in ensuring accountability, transparency and value-for-money in the management of public financial resources of the nation.
Ahmed Idris, while answering questions posed by the members of the Committee, enumerated the challenges that the Treasury House is facing and called on members to use their good offices to enact laws that would help to resolve the problems which include; non compliance of Agencies with the rules and guidelines which therefore calls for enforcement to achieve compliance.
He also cited lack of proper or adequate funding as an issue that needs to be addressed through the 2016 Budget as well as resuscitation of the Foreign Missions which are meant to generate some finances for the Government.
The AGF called on the legislators to promulgate laws that would sanction defaulters of the Reforms and Policies of the government to enforce co-operation and compliance.
Ahmed Idris reiterated the dedication of the Treasury House towards the success of the reform policies of government and added that OAGF has employed the services of a Quality Control Assurance Manager adding that the office is being mindful of hackers.
The Accountant-General also highlighted a few achievements of the Treasury House in the seven (7) months since he assumed duty as the AGF which he stated were achieved through Corporate Social Responsibility by some banks.
These include: Acquisition of Six (6) new buses for staff movement, a brand new Carport, establishing a crèche for babies of staff members to ease the stress on parents during office hours, a Clinic that can accommodate 12 in-patients (6male and 6 female), ICT equipments among others.
Chairman, Senator Andy Ubah, in his address, stated that the Public Account Committee is constitutionally approved by the government for oversight function on the OAGF.
He said he and his team were dedicated stakeholders in the struggle to fight corruption in spite of their busy schedule at the National Assembly.
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