₦airaland Forum

BCISLTD:
thanks for the clarification. ..but my question is why are the software owners entitled to part of the 1%...shouldn't they just be paid royalty and small maintanace fee?

RevDesmondJuju:
Why blame Jonathan for a program that you guys initiated?

I thought you fools where celebrating the TSA as one of Buhari's fake achievements?

Our investigation revealed that the TSA protocol was first mooted in December 2011. In January 2012, the Jonathan Presidency signed an agreement with SystemSpecs, owners of the software used for TSA deposits. The implementation phase of the agreement was then signed in December 2013 authorizing the use of TSA as a payment platform.

Gbawe:
You are confusing yourself over an issue that is simple enough. The Remita collection platform has been approved for use since 2013. Why did the GEJ government not proceed to use it for almost two years yet Buhari has put it to use within 6 months in office? Is it not like how Ribadu, through his petroleum task force recommendation, directed in 2012 that Nigeria stop selling her crude through traders only for GEJ to do nothing for three years whereas Ibe Kachickwu has announce that Nigeria, under Buhari, will stop selling crude and buying refined derivatives of crude through traders? Who is fooling who? One (the GEJ government) is clearly crooked and thieving while the other (the Buhari government) is sincere and pro-people even if it will make mistakes going forward.

BERNIMOORE:
DID gej leave an empty treasury?

BCISLTD:
thanks for the clarification. ..but my question is why are the software owners entitled to part of the 1%...shouldn't they just be paid royalty and small maintanace fee?

DeLaRue:
No, the Minister's statement does not resolve the issue. It seems your priority is to clear the air on whether Buhari's government was at fault or not. That is not the issue that concerns most people. The issue is that this contract has all the signs of a shady PDP contraption schemed to funnel 1% of the contry's entire internally generated commonwealth into the hands of a handful of people. For this reason alone, I am in full support of the Senate investigating this contract.

The Presidency or Ministry of Finance must initiate its own investigation into the motive of the people in the previou.s administration who agreed to this fee. Afterall, the government is revisiting a number of other shady deals signed by the previous government

Contrary to the alarm raised by the Senate over the alleged illegality and exorbitant commission charged for the deployment of Remita, an e-payment software, used for the transfer of Federal Government’s funds from financial institutions into a single treasury account (TSA), PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report that the use of the software is not only legal but also represents a drastic cut of the commission previously charged by banks for collection of government revenues.

Also, findings reveal that the commission collected by SystemSpecs, the owners/developers of Remita, is nowhere near the N25 billion Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West) alleged to have been collected by the firm. It was Mr. Melaye, who originally moved the motion on the Senate floor for the payment to be investigated.

Last Wednesday, following Mr. Melaye’s motion, the senate ordered its committee on finance and public accounts to immediately commence an investigation into use of Remita (which it erroneously described as an e-collection agent) for remitting government funds into the TSA; and its alleged collection of N25 billion commission being one per cent of the alleged N2.5 trillion it remitted into the TSA.

Mr. Melaye had argued that the use of Remita was a violation of Section 162(1) of the constitution, which stated that “the federation shall maintain a special account to be called the federation account into which all revenues collected by the government of the federation except the proceeds from the personal income tax of the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Federation, the Nigeria Police Force, the ministry or department of government charged with foreign affairs and the residents of the FCT, Abuja.”

Mr. Melaye further stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, could only appoint a registered bank as an agent for collecting and disbursing the funds.

He said that since Remita is not a bank, its appointment as a collection agent is in violation of the CBN Act and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2007.

According to him, Remita collected N25 billion “for doing nothing.”

However, documents, including the service agreement between SystemSpecs and CBN; correspondence between the company and the office of the Accountant General/ CBN as well as a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, seen by PREMIUM TIMES show that not only was the commission charged backed by law, it is shared by the company, commercial banks and the CBN.

Though the commission is nowhere near the exaggerated N25 billion touted by Mr. Melaye, the one per cent charge also represent a drastic reduction from between 2 per cent and 46 per cent commission charged by commercial banks in some instances for collecting government revenues.

In a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the CBN Director for public communications, Ibrahim Muazu, dismissed the amount quoted on the floor of the senate as “completely misleading.”

“That is false. That is false,” he repeated for emphasis.

“It is grossly exaggerated. We are talking of one per cent. What is one per cent of the money? Have we collected up to a trillion? That is a completely misleading information. Even at the beginning of the TSA the estimation of all the movement of federal government funds into the account is N1.2 trillion,” he added.

When asked to tell the total amount moved into the TSA, Mr Muazu said: “I cannot give you the exact amount now but I know it is far, far, far lower than N2.5 trillion.”

THE AGREEMENT

According to the service agreement between the parties, signed by Eunice Ikekhuah and Aderemi Atanda of SystemSpecs on December 4, 2013, and H.M Yusuf and R.A Olaniyan of the CBN on December 11, 2013, Systemspecs, the CBN will deploy Remita, a T24 banking application, for executing payment instructions and collection of government revenue.

Apart from the collection of revenue, Remita is also used for payment of salaries, payment of taxes, payment of pension, payroll processing biometric verification, among other uses.

In a letter dated November 6, 2015, to Mr. Buhari, SystemSpecs explained that “all commercial banks and over 400 Micro Finance Banks in Nigeria” are connected to the software. The company also explained that 705 Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDA) are currently using the software as payment and collection platform.

So, contrary to Mr Melaye’s argument in the senate, Remita is indeed a software that facilitates the payment of government revenue from financial institutions to a TSA in the CBN and not a revenue collection agent.

Also, contrary to Mr. Melaye’s submission, the entire 1 per cent commission does not go to SystemSpecs, the commission is shared between the CBN, commercial banks, and the CBN.

]“A tariff of 1% of the funds collected shall be charged for the government revenue collections: i. Platform Owner/SystemSpecs: 50%, ii. Collecting Agents/DMBs (banks): 40%, iii. Introducer? CBN: 10%,” the agreement reads.

SystemSpecs further explained that at a seminar organised by the CBN and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) between May27-28, 2013, it actually proposed a commission of 1.5 per cent, It explained that commercial banks actually proposed 5 per cent, while a committee set up by the CBN and the OAGF, actually proposed 2.5 per cent. It explained that it was the then Accountant-General of the Federation that actually overruled all the suggested commission and reduced it to 1 per cent.

However, the company said it was surprised to receive a letter from CBN signed by Dipo Fatokun, Director, Banking and Payments System Department, on October 27, 2015 directing it to refund all charges it collected from MDAs for implementation of the TSA.

“I have been directed to inform you that you should refund all charges (1% cost of collection) made into the MDAs accounts as a result of the implementation of the TSA,” the letter reads.

“The total amount should be credited into the account mentioned below:

“FGN Revenue e-Collection Pool Account at the Central Bank of Nigeria Account Number: 0020054161043

“Since the cost of the collection must have been shared by all the stakeholders, you Are hereby required to also provide a schedule of the total amount collected and the portion that was shared to each of the three participants. The schedule should be prepared on month by month basis, from the commencement of the TSA implementation in March 2015, to date. We will recover the share to the CBN and the DMBs,” the letter explains

SystemSpecs explained that after the kick off of the TSA following a deadline announced by Mr Buhari, it was invited for a meeting by OAGF where they were told that following the enlarged scope of the TSA, the government wanted to review the charges.

“We wrote to the CBN to give a brief on the meeting with OAGF and said inter-alia that, while on our part, SystemSpecs is not averse to a review of the existing transaction fee to a figure that is agreeable to all parties, we would however, advise of the need to carry along the DMBs as you will recall that the current fees were agreed with the banks and communicated by CBN via a circular in December 2013,” the firm stated in a letter to the CBN governor.

REDUCTION OF COST

In the same letter to the CBN Governor, SystemSpecs further explained that the 1 per cent charge actually represents a drastic reduction of the amount the Federal Government had to pay for the collection of its revenue before the implementation of the TSA.

“Your Excellency will recall that one of the primary focus of the TSA project is to retrieve funds from the banks who were indirectly lending the government money back to government at about 15%. Hidden cost to government? Arguably 15%.

“Remita provided a technology to empower government retrieve her funds immediately customers pay at Deposit Money Banks. No overnight stay at any bank. Is 1% to be shared by all parties really too high to pay for such a service?”

For instance, the firm explained, banks charge as high as 46 per cent for National Open University (NOUN) charges, nine per cent for Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) fees, and six per cent on Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) National Drivers’ License charges.

Thus in its letter to the President, SystemSpecs appealed for the return of its fees and those earned by the partner banks seized by the CBN.

Mr. Muazu corroborated SystemSpecs position during the telephone chat with Premium Times

“The information you are given is in line with the agreement dating back to 2011. That is a fact. They started it actually when the TSA came up. The one per cent was, yes, agreed at that time. But now with the issue at hand everything needs to be reviewed and agreed.

“But truly the banks, the CBN and themselves are stakeholders. What is it that we are talking about? It is the software or the platform. You can’t do everything free for doing any business. The banks that are doing the e-collection they pursue agencies and other sources of revenue. Not just taking the value. So it is actually an arrangement for the service to be provided. That software that is being used by the platform has to be maintained apart from the initial design,” he said.

He said CBN asked SysytemSpecs to return the commission already collected to enable it renegotiate the terms of the contract.

“Now we are having a new arrangement. It’s not just e-collection. Central bank is now in charge of government revenue. So the old arrangement cannot continue. So when the issue started the central bank gave the order and the money were all paid back to the government.

“Look at it this way, you have a product that you are allowing someone to use, it can’t be free,” he said.


Source: http://saharareporters.com/2015/11/15/full-details-tsa-dino-melaye-misleads-nigerian-senate-n25-billion-claim

Gbawe:
I guess we can accept this as the FG official and unambiguous announcement on the TSA. It is clear no single business interest has made N25 billion per transaction as claimed by Melaye. Buhari will have to very careful with Melaye, Saraki et al because it is clear these guys are 'spoilers' eager to frustrate tha fight against corruption and the effort to enshrine transparency in the operations of government.

http://saharareporters.com/2015/11/17/president-goodluck-jonathan-regime-signed-tsa-agreement-1-fee-minister

yomexp:
You are getting it wrong the 1% charge is to be shared btween three parties
1.systemspec
2.central bank
3.and all commercial banks involved

i will put a figure to this if i can get the link to the letter written to mr president by systemspec

Gbawe:
I guess we can accept this as the FG official and unambiguous announcement on the TSA. It is clear no single business interest has made N25 billion per transaction as claimed by Melaye. Buhari will have to very careful with Melaye, Saraki et al because it is clear these guys are 'spoilers' eager to frustrate tha fight against corruption and the effort to enshrine transparency in the operations of government.

http://saharareporters.com/2015/11/17/president-goodluck-jonathan-regime-signed-tsa-agreement-1-fee-minister

lordofjustice:
Yes, the previous administration signed the agreement and that administration is implicated in this case but this present government that implemented the TSA without review equally has questions to answer.

GEJ tenure employed some people in DSS which was later disregarded by this same administration. There have been probes upon probes , reviews upon reviews on some actions and inactions of past administration including the current Col Dasuki arm purchase; so the question is: What stopped PMB to review this TSA as he has been probing and reviewing others before going ahead to implement. PMB administration is implicated too.

BCISLTD:
thanks for the clarification. ..but my question is why are the software owners entitled to part of the 1%...shouldn't they just be paid royalty and small maintanace fee?

Gbawe:
Indeed. I personally think Buhari will have problems with this Senate because it is full of pro-corruption scoundrels led by Saraki. Why should Melaye rush to publicly declare that one single company is made N25 billion from TSA remittance when the total amount that has gone into the TSA is not enough to yeild a 1% fee of N25 billion? What is behind this sort of mischief when the Senate, even agreeing it has oversight function, should be a partner to the executive arm instead of the peddler of erroneous and false information?

lordofjustice:
Yes, the previous administration signed the agreement and that administration is implicated in this case but this present government that implemented the TSA without review equally has questions to answer.

GEJ tenure employed some people in DSS which was later disregarded by this same administration. There have been probes upon probes , reviews upon reviews on some actions and inactions of past administration including the current Col Dasuki arm purchase; so the question is: What stopped PMB to review this TSA as he has been probing and reviewing others before going ahead to implement. PMB administration is implicated too.

RevDesmondJuju:
Then why una no cancel am?

N7.62b taken as fees for TSA, says SystemSpecs
Posted By: Collins Nweze



SystemSpecs, the owner company of Remita, the e-payment and e-collection software deployed by the Federal Government to drive the Treasury Single Account (TSA), has said only N7.62 billion was taken as fees by the three implementers of the project as against N25 billion claimed by its accusers.

In a document obtained by The Nation, the firm also described the N2.5 trillion transaction volume as false, saying only N1.36 trillion passed through 20 participating banks from the inception of the project to date.

Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) last week alleged on the floor of the Senate that the firm was making about N25 billion per day for facilitating compliance by the MDGs with the TSA directive.

Melaye accused those he described as “financial scavengers and economic cankerworms” of trying to sabotage the anti-corruption war of the Buhari administration by mismanaging the TSA.

Debunking Melaye’s claims in a chat with our correspondent, a senior executive at SystemSpecs, who asked not to be named, said the e-collection company was never paid the said sum.



The top executive said that at the commencement of the project in May 2012, [size=14pt]it was agreed that one per cent of the sums collected from MDAs would be deducted and shared between SystemSpecs, the banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria in ratios of .5 per cent, .4 per cent and .1 per cent.[/size]

A breakdown of the transaction inflow via the TSA showed that SystemSpecs is to refund N3.8 billion; 20 banks to refund N3.05 billion and the CBN is to refund N760.96 million, being total fees received by the institutions.

Further analysis of the TSA transaction volume showed that N241.3 billion passed through Zenith Bank; United Bank for Africa, N150.08 billion; FirstBank, N122.01 billion; Skye Bank, N39.62 billion and First City Monument Bank, N39.15 billion among others.

Others are Access Bank, N39.33 billion; Diamond Bank, N27.28 billion; Ecobank Nigeria, N15.51 billion; GTBank, N8.78 billion; Union Bank, N14.93 billion; Wema Bank, N26.68 billion among others.

The SystemSpecs executive also said the over N200 billion, which passed through the banks from October 27 to date, was also part of the N1.36 trillion grand total figure.

The source said the banks were holding talks with their lawyers and will sue the Federal Government for breach of contract.

A copy of the service agreement between SystemSpecs Limited and CBN dated December 2013, reads in part: “SystemSpecs and CBN are entering into a mutually beneficial relationship for the purpose of deploying and integrating Remita e-Payment platform and T24 Banking application to facilitate and support electronic payments and revenue collection of Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) through seamless interface with Government Integrated Financial Management Information System application in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in this agreement”.

The agreement also mandates the CBN to ensure that whenever payment is made through Remita, it requests an electronic transfer from her account or account of its customers . Upon such request, Remita will transfer from the funding account the amount specified to the accounts of the beneficiary banks. The CBN agreed that such requests constitute authorization for the transfers.

The agreement also indicated that either of the party shall have the right to terminate the pact where the other party commits a substantial breach of any of its obligations under the agreement which remains unresolved after 30 days written notice of the breach and intent to terminate the agreement by the other party.

Part of the agreement also said either party shall have an immediate right to terminate the agreement if the other party becomes or is declared insolvent or bankrupt, becomes subject of any proceedings relating to liquidation, insolvency or for the appointment of a receiver or similar officer or in respect of its assets.

Also, any monies due and payable to either party at the time of termination shall remain payable and become due immediately upon termination.

System Specs was engaged to provide the Payment Gateway for TSA in 2011. While the payment leg of TSA commenced in January 2012, the collection component did not start as scheduled due to the resistance from some quarters and the absence of the political will to push this through.

BCISLTD:
thanks for the clarification. ..but my question is why are the software owners entitled to part of the 1%...shouldn't they just be paid royalty and small maintanace fee?