By Chuks Ehirim
Assistant Editor, North
Both the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have asked Abuja to investigate allegation of fraud in the treasury single account (TSA).
Senators have ordered their Committees on Finance, Banking and Financial Institutions and Public Accounts to investigate operations of the TSA.
This was after Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West) on Wednesday, November 11 alleged mismanagement of the TSA fund to the tune of N25 billion.
Melaye said: “The TSA is a good idea which all of us are trying to support, we thought the CBN was in charge only to be told that the collection of the money was contracted out.
“I am not sure whether that fact is correct, but if it is, I do not think we are practising what we are preaching; because we are told that ‘Remita,’ the agent contracted to collect money to the TSA, has benefited to the tune of N25 billion.
“There is no justification for the government to actually use an agent for collecting our revenue.
“Any federal government agency that has failed to comply with the policy of remitting funds and taxes into single account should be prosecuted. We do not need an agent to do that for us.”
NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, argued at a public lecture in Abuja that the money given to a contractor would have been used to solve some of the problems in the country.
“This is unacceptable,” he insisted, and asked the government to quickly dispel the rumour about the TSA.
A report in THISDAY on Friday, November 13 alleged that SystemSpecs, a software firm based in Lagos, provided the e-payment/e-collection solution called Remita used for the transfer of government funds from banks to the TSA in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The newspaper alleged that the CBN recovered N8.6 billion TSA proceeds from SystemSpecs.
It also disclosed that the SystemSpecs website lists the board members to include Christopher Kolade (Chairman); former Nigerian Communications Commission Executive Vice Chairman, Ernest Ndukwe; Emmanuel Ocholi; Deremi Atanda; and Emmanuel Eze.
Wabba urged workers to monitor political office holders and hold them accountable to the people.
Wabba urged workers to monitor political office holders and hold them accountable to the people.
The lecture was organised to highlight issues that affect the economy – workplace and decent work, social welfare, security, and unemployment.
“This type of platform is necessary to pool resources together and to provide policy options for government and employers on how best to respond to the challenges.
“At the end of the day, we will come out with a document which will be forwarded to government for policy implementation,” Wabba said.
TUC President, Bobboi Kaigama, urged the government to continue to take corruption seriously.
“We want to advise Mr president to appoint people that will support his change mantra; otherwise, it will be cat and mouse game.
“Nigerians are in need of jobs, food, and social protection and we want [him] to take these as priority,” Kaigama stressed.
Guest lecturer, Eze Oyekpere, sought re-adjustment of the salaries and allowances of political, public, and judicial office holders.
He said the basic salary of lawmakers is reasonable and should not be reduced but their allowances and perks should be slashed by a minimum 40 per cent.
To him, the salaries and emoluments of lawmakers and other public office holders should be reviewed at more frequent intervals.
“That is, every four years is recommended,” Oyekpere added.