The Nigerian Computer Society (NCS) the umbrella body for all computer scientists in the country, has expressed concern about the Federal Government’s planned replacement of the Remita, the public finance payment system, with a new payment solution – Treasury Management and Revenue Assurance System (TMRAS).
Speaking during a media chat in Lagos, the NCS president, Sirajo Aliyu, expressed the body’s concern about the replacement of the payment software developed by SystemSpecs Software Technology Group, warning that the measure can send a wrong signal to other indigenous IT companies interested in developing software for local deployment
While noting that it falls within the government’s purview to make changes when it considered it desirable in the public finance system, the NCS leader appealed to the government to avoid any measure that could make other Indigenous IT companies believe they did not have its support.
According to him, replacing such a widely used payment platform can come with some unanticipated challenges.
Aliyu pleaded: “We urge the government to reconsider its decision and engage with Remita and other stakeholders to find a solution that will benefit everyone.” he said.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government had on March 4 this year unveiled a new payment platform to complement the Remita, which has been the technological platform for revenue collection into the Federation Accounts over the past few years.
A memo from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), dated February 28, 2025, indicated that the new platform (TMRAS) was designed to streamline and enhance federal revenue collection and payment processes across ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), including those benefiting from donor funds, trust funds, social security funds, and special funds.
The OAGF clarified that Remita would be integrated into the Treasury Management and Revenue Assurance (TMRAS) alongside other eligible Payment Solution Service Providers (PSSPs) for government revenue collection and remittances to enhance liberalisation.
The memo confirmed that the TMRAS system would become operational effective from Tuesday, March 4, but that it would be deployed in two phases, adding that the first phase of its implementation will cover payments and collections for the naira component of revenues only.
In addition, the Office stated that the TMRAS platform will also enable the OAGF and MDAs to generate bank statements, track balances, and activate automatic deduction and remittance of taxes associated with vendor and contractor payments, including VAT, Withholding Tax, and Stamp Duty,. amongst other fully integrated revenue functions
According to the AGF, the second phase of the platform’s deployment, which is expected to commence on June 1, 2025, will cover collections and payments involving foreign exchange and integration with MDA Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.
