President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday disclosed that the Federal Government was saving about N24.7 billion monthly on the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and the Bank Verification Number (BVN), among other public finance mechanisms.
The President, who made this disclosure at the opening of the e-Nigeria Conference in Abuja, directed the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the organisers of the conference, to report any ministry, department and agency (MDA) that defaulted in clearing its IT projects with it before implementation.
The President reiterated the commitment of his administration to the ongoing anti-graft war in view of the remarkable achievements it had recorded and the huge sums of money recovered and saved for investment in infrastructure and other sectors of the economy.
For instance, Buhari, said that about N1.6 billion was recovered from one single account through the TSA recently.
He said: “These policy initiatives reinforce this administration’s fight against corruption by ensuring transparency and accountability in government business transactions.
“The enforcement of the use of the policy on TSA, the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System and the Bank Verification Number and the impact they have made on the administration’s public financial management reforms cannot be over-emphasised.
“In addition to the consolidation of accounts and elimination of ghost workers that resulted in a combined monthly savings of about N24.7 billion, the TSA facilitated the recovery of huge sums of money including the recent N1.6 billion from a single account.
“You may recall that in my address at last year’s event, I raised a number of issues relating to ICT’s role in fostering the digital economy in Nigeria, including the sector’s contribution of about 10 per cent of the nation’s GDP.
“I am pleased to note that this has been taken seriously and stakeholders’ efforts resulted in ICT emerging as one of the key performers of the second quarter of 2018 by recording 11.81 per cent growth,” Buhari enthused.
