TSA Only Existed As An Idea Under Goodluck – President Buhari

TSA Only Existed As An Idea Under Goodluck – President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has come for former President Goodluck Jonathan again, saying the Treasury Single Account only existed as an idea under the previous administration instead of using it to block financial leakages.

President Buhari made the disclosure in Abuja on Monday at the opening ceremony of the Open Government Partnership [OGP] week where he also alleged that some officials of the previous administration cornered Nigeria’s resources for the use of themselves and their immediate families.

“We inherited a Treasury Single Account (TSA) system that existed mainly as an idea, without the appetite for serious implementation’’, he said.

Represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Buhari said his administration had used TSA to save trillions of naira which would have gone into private pockets of corrupt officials.

He said the administration came to office on the back of a three-pronged agenda: Ensuring Security, Rebuilding the Economy, and vigorously prosecuting the fight against corruption.

‘’This last issue, Corruption, has been an existential issue for Nigeria, threatening the very foundation of our existence. It has ensured that, for too long, the resources meant for the majority have been sadly cornered by a greedy minority,” he said.

He said the administration had adopted two-step approach to dealing with corruption.

The first, he said is to stop grand corruption and the accompanying impunity and the second step and the more enduring one is creating a self- sustaining system that assures transparency and accountability.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom ministers have approved £12 million (about N5.86 billion) for Nigeria to deepen and implement open government reforms.

This was confirmed by the British High Commissioner to Nigeria Mr. Paul Arkwright in a goodwill message at the opening ceremony of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Week 2018 in Abuja.

“As we move to the 2019 elections we want to encourage transparency around the process so that Nigerians will be confident that the results are credible and reflect the will of the people,” he said.