Governor Dikko Umaru Radda of Katsina has signed the Treasury Single Account into law in the state as part of his plans to fight corruption.
Radda, an economist and former director-general of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, signed the law on Monday, July 3.
By his action, all revenues and monies curing and forming the Consolidated Revenue Funds, including funds from Excess Crude Oil Account grants or donations for Katsina State, shall be paid into a unified account referred to as Treasury Single Account.
All expenditures incurred or approved to be incurred out of the account shall be defrayed or paid according to the law.
The action also exercises the governor’s powers conferred upon him by the provisions of section 5(2) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, and all other powers enabling on his behalf.
The Treasury Single Account is primarily designed to bring all government funds into bank accounts within the Treasury’s effective control and operational purview.
Experts say it enthrones centralized, transparent, and accountable revenue management and facilitates effective cash management.
By pooling all revenues into a unified account, it becomes easier to track, monitor, and control the flow of funds. This can help prevent leakages, reduce financial mismanagement, and improve fiscal discipline.
The 53-year-old state chief executive has a master’s in international affairs and diplomacy and Ph.D. in Agriculture and Rural Sociology.
”This makes real sense; the state can now have central control of its resources, it will as well help in mainstreaming all expenditures for ease of allocation, disbursements, and management,” Mustapha Shehu, a monitoring and evaluation specialist wrote on Twitter in reaction to the news.
Usman Alkasim, an economist, also had good things to say about the governor.
His words:
”This economical approach will allow better control and oversight of government spending, as all payments and transactions are recorded and managed from a single source. Keep doing the good work.”
