10 Years Verdict: Experts Say TSA Has Reshaped Nigeria’s Public Finance — But Gaps Remain

In August 2015, under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria fully enforced the Treasury Single Account (TSA), a reform that has since become one of the most consequential interventions in the country’s public finance history that addressed decades of fiscal dysfunction, constitutional violations, and institutionalised opacity. MARK ITSIBOR highlights the verdict on the TSA 10 years after its implementation.

Ten years later, fiscal policy experts, economists, public finance administrators and private sector operators broadly agree that the TSA has reshaped Nigeria’s fiscal architecture, strengthened transparency and reduced leakages. Yet, they also caution that the reform remains a work in progress requiring deeper institutionalisation and technological upgrades.

At its core, the TSA consolidated federal government revenues into a unified account structure domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria and powered by the indigenous payment platform Remita, an indigenous fintech company.

Its objective was straightforward: to provide the government with real-time visibility over its cash resources and eliminate the fragmentation that had characterised public finance management for decades.

The Disorder It Replaced

Before 2015, the federal government operated more than 17,000 bank accounts across commercial banks. Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) maintained multiple accounts with little central oversight. As a result, treasury managers often lacked an accurate picture of the government’s true cash position.

Former deputy governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Sarah Alade, described the pre-TSA system at a recent policy dialogue as “a structural contradiction.” According to her, the government frequently borrowed funds at high interest rates while significant balances remained idle in various bank accounts outside central visibility.

This situation created what economists termed a “debt paradox.” The government incurred heavy borrowing costs even as its own funds sat unused within the banking system. Fiscal transparency advocates argue that the opacity also undermined compliance with Section 80 of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates that all government revenues be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Professor of Capital Market at Nasarawa State University, Dr. Uche Uwaleke, had also stated that the fragmented arrangement “not only weakened fiscal coordination but also created avenues for revenue under-remittance and abuse.”

Immediate Impact , Fiscal Shock

When the TSA was fully implemented in 2015, its effect was immediate. Over N3 trillion was reportedly swept from commercial banks into the consolidated framework at the CBN.

For the banking sector, the sudden withdrawal tightened liquidity. For the federal treasury, however, it restored control.

Development economist Prof. Ken Ife said the reform corrected a structural flaw in public finance management. “The state had been borrowing its own money,” he noted. “The TSA simply reasserted control over sovereign cash.”

By July 2019, collections processed through the TSA system had exceeded N10 trillion, reflecting the scale of revenue flows now operating within a centralised framework.

Beyond the initial recovery, experts say the sustained savings represent the TSA’s most enduring achievement. Former Minister of Finance Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed disclosed in 2020 that the country was saving an average of N45 billion monthly in interest payments due to improved liquidity management.

These savings stem from reduced reliance on short-term borrowing. With better visibility over its cash balances, the government no longer needed to borrow funds while idle balances existed elsewhere.

In addition, the consolidation eliminated excessive bank charges. Prior to the reform, MDAs collectively paid an estimated N24 billion monthly in account maintenance and transaction fees. Public finance consultants say the TSA significantly curtailed this leakage.

An Abuja-based treasury adviser, Ibrahim Yusuf, observed that the reform also altered institutional behaviour. “Once agencies knew that revenues would automatically flow into a central structure, remittances improved significantly,” he said. “Technology reduced discretion.”

Monetary economists argue that the TSA improved fiscal-monetary coordination. With federal revenues consolidated at the CBN, liquidity forecasting became more accurate, enabling better management of inflationary pressures and exchange rate stability.

During the 2016 recession, triggered by the collapse in oil prices, the TSA provided the government with clearer cash visibility at a time of severe fiscal strain. Dr. Muda Yusuf, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, said the reform functioned as a stabilising mechanism.

“In periods of economic stress, knowing your exact cash position is critical,” Yusuf said. “The TSA reduced uncertainty and supported rational resource allocation.”

Analysts also note that consolidation of foreign currency inflows enhanced reserve tracking. However, experts maintain that full integration of all foreign exchange earnings into the TSA architecture remains incomplete.

A notable dimension of the reform has been its reliance on indigenous technology. Remita’s revenue and payment management platform became the operational backbone of the TSA. Digital policy analysts view this as a milestone in Nigeria’s technology development journey.

“It demonstrated that local fintech solutions can power national fiscal infrastructure,” said technology analyst Juliet Ehimuan. According to her, the decision strengthened domestic capacity and reduced dependency on foreign payment systems.

However, cybersecurity specialists caution that continuous system upgrades are necessary to guard against evolving threats. A decade after deployment, experts stress the importance of resilience and innovation to sustain performance.

Lingering Challenges

Despite broad consensus on its benefits, the TSA is not without critics. Some MDAs complain of operational rigidity and bureaucratic delays. A senior official in a revenue-generating agency noted that while centralisation improves oversight, it can sometimes slow transactional processes.

Public finance reform advocates respond that transparency requires structured processes. Dr. Uwaleke argues that “discipline inevitably introduces procedural safeguards, but those safeguards are the price of accountability.”

Another area of concern is incomplete coverage. Certain government-owned enterprises and specialised funds still operate outside the TSA framework. Fiscal federalism analysts also highlight uneven adoption at the state level, limiting nationwide harmonisation.

Legal experts suggest that stronger statutory backing could further protect the reform. Constitutional lawyer Jiti Ogunye noted that while the TSA is anchored in constitutional principles, codifying it through comprehensive legislation would shield it from political reversals.

International Recognition And Broader Lessons

International development institutions have cited Nigeria’s TSA as an example of public finance reform in emerging markets. Governance experts say its implementation underscores the importance of political will.

Without executive commitment in 2015, analysts believe resistance from entrenched interests could have derailed the initiative. Instead, successive administrations have retained and expanded the framework, reinforcing investor confidence in Nigeria’s fiscal transparency.

A decade after its full rollout, the Treasury Single Account stands as one of Nigeria’s most consequential fiscal reforms. Experts credit it with restoring visibility to government finances, reducing leakages, improving cash management and promoting accountability.

Yet, analysts stress that reforms must evolve. Expanding coverage to encompass all foreign currency inflows, strengthening legislative backing, upgrading technology and ensuring broader subnational adoption are seen as critical next steps.

BudgIT, the civic technology organisation focused on budget transparency, argues that the TSA has made public finance tracking more credible. “When revenues flow through a unified structure, monitoring improves,” one analyst said.

As Nigeria confronts mounting fiscal pressures and revenue mobilisation challenges, the TSA remains a foundational pillar of its public finance system.

For many experts, its greatest achievement lies not merely in the trillions recovered or billions saved, but in changing expectations. Public institutions now operate with the understanding that revenues are centrally monitored and transparently accounted for.

Ten years on, the consensus among fiscal operators is clear. The Treasury Single Account has strengthened Nigeria’s financial governance. The task ahead is consolidation and enhancement, not reversal.

Despite the various reviews by different operators and industry watcher, some recommendations remained constant for the sustainability and improved efficiency of the initiative.

To sustain the TSA’s effectiveness as it enters its second decade, experts called for a comprehensive review involving critical stakeholders that must be undertaken to identify operational, administrative, and technology processes that need retention, optimisation, or upgrading to ensure the initiative continues meeting expectations.

Second, they said the updated TSA framework must be anchored on robust legislation that insulates it from political interference, deepening transparency as a non-negotiable pillar of Nigeria’s financial architecture regardless of which administration holds power.

The government is also advised to resist the typical challenge of replacing indigenous technology with foreign alternatives. The success of homegrown Remita technology in powering the TSA for a decade demonstrates that local solutions can meet national needs whilst growing the domestic technology market and making Nigeria a true net earner from technology.

Beyond that, the authorities are expected to expand the TSA framework to capture foreign exchange inflows into government accounts, thereby extending the same transparency and accountability principles that have worked so well for naira transactions to dollar and other foreign currency revenue streams, ensuring comprehensive visibility across all government financial flows.

The Verdict

A decade provides sufficient time to judge whether a reform works. The TSA has passed that test definitively. It has recovered trillions, eliminated billions in wasteful spending, restored constitutional compliance, transformed institutional behaviour, stabilised the economy during crisis, and earned international recognition.

More fundamentally, it has proven that transparency and accountability in public finance are not theoretical aspirations but achievable realities. The TSA demonstrated that when government commits to seeing where its money is, controlling how it is used, and enforcing proper procedures, fiscal discipline follows.

The TSA represents more than a revenue management system. It embodies a choice about what kind of government Nigeria aspires to have: one that operates transparently within constitutional bounds, or one that tolerates the opacity enabling corruption. After a decade of demonstrated success, the imperative is clear.

The TSA must be protected, strengthened, improved, and institutionalised as a permanent feature of Nigeria’s governance framework. Any move to weaken or dismantle it would represent not reform but regression. It would signal a return to the chaos, constitutional breach, and fiscal haemorrhage that characterised the pre-2015 era.

That outcome, after ten years of proven success, would be unconscionable. Nigeria has shown it can build and sustain world-class fiscal infrastructure. The TSA is proof. The task now is to build on this foundation, not tear it down. As we mark a decade of transformation, that lesson should guide all discussions about Nigeria’s fiscal future.