Edun says govt funds still outside TSA, CBN, vows full recovery

…FG saw its balance sheet for the first time on August 1

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The federal government has vowed to recover all public funds still lying outside the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as part of efforts to sanitise public finances and boost transparency.

Speaking on Monday night during a dinner on Fiscal Policy at the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, revealed that despite longstanding directives, substantial government funds remain outside the TSA and are not domiciled at the CBN.

“It is our determination to make sure we bring in every single penny,” Edun said. “There’s federal government money lying outside the TSA, lying outside of the Central Bank, and it requires enforcement, consensus and the right use of technology.”

According to Edun, plugging fiscal leakages and improving public financial management are at the heart of President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, which is being implemented in three phases — stabilisation, recovery, and growth.

As part of this effort, Edun disclosed that the federal government implemented a central billing system from October 1, enabling real-time reconciliation of payments, which he described as a “game changer” for revenue collection.

“Before now, if you paid part of your bill, there was no way to reconcile it. Now, if you pay 20 out of 100, the system tracks the 80 receivable. That’s the difference technology can make,” he said.

The Minister also made a stunning revelation that until August 1, 2024, the government lacked full visibility into its own finances at the CBN.

“Despite all the efforts, it took us till August 1 this year to have a situation where we could see the federal government’s accounts at the CBN,” Edun said. “Such is the political economy of bureaucracy and governance.”

This lack of access, he explained, severely constrained planning and monitoring, and was a major barrier to credible public finance reform.However, he added that technology is now enabling a rapid turnaround.

The Tinubu administration’s economic reform agenda has focused on correcting long-standing distortions — particularly the unification of exchange rates and the removal of petrol subsidies — which Edun described as “market corrections” necessary for restoring macroeconomic stability.

“Confidence has risen and the economy is largely stable at this stage,” Edun said. “The data does not lie. Inflation is easing, the naira is relatively stable, industrial growth is above 7 percent, and agricultural production is on the rise.”

He acknowledged, however, that inflation remains high at around 20 percent and noted that further fiscal and monetary tightening will be needed to bring it under control.

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He emphasised that the social cost of reform — especially on the poor — is being addressed through direct cash transfers and social investment programmes.

“We’ve targeted 15 million households, and 8.1 million have already received direct transfers,” he said, reiterating President Tinubu’s insistence on a gold-standard system that ensures each beneficiary is biometrically verified and paid digitally.

Edun also touched on expenditure reforms, noting that the government is prioritising capital projects and cutting down on waste.

He revealed that discussions with the National Assembly are ongoing to ensure a timely return to the January-December budget cycle — a key step to restoring budget discipline.
“We are working with the National Assembly to return to the January-December budget cycle,” he said. “No more extensions of budgets into the next year, which cause dislocation and confusion.”

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Edun called for collaboration between the public and private sectors, stressing that sustainable growth and poverty reduction can only be achieved through a combination of innovation, investment, and targeted social support.

“Nigeria is becoming more and more investment-ready,” he said. “And the evidence is pointing in that direction. What is being rewarded now is innovation and productivity, not privileged access to distortions.”