Acclaimed policy formulation and acclaimed group, Africa Media Roundtable Initiative (AMRI), vigorously refuted reports questioning the selection process that led to the emergence of SystemSpecs as the preferred provider of technology behind the lauded Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy.
The group declared that the rigorous investigations the organisation underwent validate the selection of Remita, a product of SystemSpecs, as the choice platform for the immensely successful policy.
According to a statement issued by the Executive Director of the group, Adeyemi Omoluabi, the group behind this proclamation is as misguided as it is ignorant in its position.
Omoluabi remarked: ”Recently, a so-called non-governmental organization, sponsored by those who wish to continue to perpetuate their notoriety and jeopardise the economic prosperity and sustainability of this country, is suggesting that the TSA contract was awarded to SystemSpecs without recourse to due process. This grand scheme would not be lost to anyone who has carefully followed the history of the TSA, as this is the third antic of this group in their inglorious quest.
In light of the foregoing background, it is indeed a traumatic irony to see orchestrations of events poised to dissipate goodwill, downplaying the gains created by the Remita technology for Nigeria.
We find this position as untenable as it is absurd due to the rigorous selection process SystemSpecs was subjected to before emerging the preferred provider of the technology behind the super-successful policy. Initially, as public records have it, CMA, a Swedish company was saddled with the task of powering the policy but after repeated delays and failures, the government turned to Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS). NIBSS performed the task but not without difficulties. The platform was limited in its functionality, hence the need to contact SystemSpecs to power the policy through its innovative Remita platform. If this does not constitute due process, then we would go further to jog the memories of both URGFP and its corrupt financiers.
It could be recalled that as far back as 2015, we have commended the government for implementing the TSA policy through Remita and have proffered, measures to solidify this. Our position emanates from the outcome of the enquiry from the Senate. In 2017, the House of Representatives set up a panel headed by Honourable Nuhu Danburam to investigate the entire TSA in Nigeria. Hon. Danburam and his colleagues applauded SystemSpecs for its efforts in implementing the TSA policy whilst enjoining the federal government to settle its debt to the company.
These recommendations and acclaim only raise the question as to why the National Assembly gave a clean bill of health to the TSA selection process and SystemSpecs but a recently-established NGO disagrees. If not for being on the payroll of the corruption advocates, why will an NGO be involved in the selection process of a company that has driven the implantation of Nigeria’s most successful public financial management policy? Nigerians must take caution that this ready-for-hire group should not be allowed to plunge the nation into the unprecedented economic calamity that attempting to reinvent the wheel of progress will result in.
SystemSpecs emerged from various injustices unperturbed due to its patriotism, uprightness, and pride in its ingenious technology which saved the economy from a collapse according to Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
Nevertheless, to further reinforce the value of TSA to the upward movement of Nigeria, we will refer to the N7.8 billion remittance of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to the coffers the Federal Government in 2012. Not only was this feat unprecedented, but it also boils down to the implementation of TSA across board. JAMB’s remittance in 2018 surpasses the previous its previous remittances put together. Oloyede credited his achievement to the TSA policy enforced by President Buhari. TSA not only plugged the inherent loopholes in the system but also exposed those who had benefitted from the hitherto corrupt process.
Furthermore, if the testimony of Prof. Oloyede and Jamb does not suffice, we will like to remind the naysayers about the recently concluded TSA workshop organised by the Minister of Finance for emissaries from the Republic of Gambia. During the course of this visit, the Accountant General of Gambia, Mr. Momodou Lamin Bah, spoke about a recommendation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the implementation of TSA in Nigeria. According to Mr. Bah, IMF instructed Gambia to understudy the Nigerian process in order to inform their TSA implementation process. At the conclusion of this process, the Gambians commended the Nigerian government and SystemSpecs for sharing invaluable insights as regards the policy.”