The newly inaugurated governing councils of federal tertiary institutions have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to order the exemption of the institutions from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) operated by the Nigerian government.

The chairperson for the University of Lagos Governing Council, Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), made the request in his speech on behalf of the governing councils’ members shortly after their inauguration in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Thursday.

About TSA

TSA is a policy introduced by the government that mandates the use of a single account for all transactions by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), even as the account is domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The policy is targeted at addressing the identified fraudulent practices by the MDAs, especially through the operation of multiple bank accounts.

In 2012, the Nigerian government began a partial implementation of the TSA policy, through a Consolidated Revenue Account (CRA) at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In 2015, however, former President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the full implementation of the policy which directs all payments, including revenues generated by the tertiary institutions, into the unified government coffers domiciled at the CBN.

However, following the implementation of the policy, the managing officials of various tertiary institutions have complained of the challenges posed by the policy especially considering the peculiarities of the institutions.

‘Let’s liberate universities’

Speaking at the inauguration of the councils on Thursday, Mr Olanipekun appealed to the minister to also assist them in making the universities more productive.

Mr Olanipekun, who spoke on behalf of the inaugurated councils of the federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, said it is unheard of that universities have to seek permission from the federal government before taking on expenditures.

“We don’t expect a country like ours or universities in the country to generate revenues and still put them under the regime of TSA, it cannot work. Let us liberate the universities,” he said, as other members of councils seated at the Idris Abdulkadir Auditorium cheered him on with claps.

“Sir, universities are not civil servants as such. The University of Lagos, for example, you want to spend one million naira but you are coming to Abuja to get approval. Don’t let outsiders hear you.”

‘Take this plea to the president’

Mr Olanipekun narrated that in his last year as the pro-chancellor of the University of Ibadan where he served between 2009 and 2013, the university paid its staff salaries from the internally generated revenue because the revenue was generated and domiciled with them.

He said: “As of that time, money was not coming from the federal government as and when due. We will not wait for them. And we also pay a 13th month salary. That was when we were managing the internally generated revenue by us, within us. We were generating from within, we were managing from within.

“What has happened nowadays, Sir? I am an elder statesman, a senior citizen of this country and we are to manage this country and education is so key, so central, and so germane.

He, therefore, asked the education minister to take their plea to President Bola Tinubu.

“I am going through you, honourable minister, take this plea to the president. We are not dictating, we are pleading. I am saying this on bended knees on behalf of all of us” he added.

Peaceful working relationship

Mr Olanipekun also admonished his colleagues to forge a smooth working relationship with the management of their respective institutions.

He said their relationship should not be like that of “cat and mouse”.

He also called for the reciprocity of respect between the university management and governing councils.

“When we go to the university, we are to build, we are not to destroy, that’s the way to contribute to society meaningfully,” he said.

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe