The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has clarified that the selection of Remita to provide an essential electronic platform for facilitating payments from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to beneficiary accounts across commercial banks was based on merit.
According to Mr. Hamisu Abdullahi, the Director of Banking Services at CBN, the decision was made in 2011 when the CBN was directed to establish an electronic payment system on behalf of MDAs.
At that time, no existing platform was suitable for this purpose. Consequently, the CBN engaged two companies, and Remita Systemspec emerged as the chosen provider due to its track record of rendering similar services to commercial banks.
Additionally, the Managing Director of Remita Payment Services Limited, Mr. ‘Deremi Atanda, emphasized the importance of incorporating all Federal Government agencies within the Treasury Single Account (TSA) framework.
The TSA aims to enhance accountability and transparency by monitoring all government inflows and outflows in real-time.
However, some MDAs continue to operate outside the TSA guidelines, leading to partial compliance or outright breaches of the TSA Revenue policy.
