Dr Oluwatoyin Madein, the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), has issued guidelines for the exclusion of Federal Universities and Research Institutions’ research funding from the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
Madein released a federal treasury circular in Abuja on Thursday, stating that the new standards will be adopted immediately.
She stated that the guidelines followed President Bola Tinubu’s approval of the exemption of Federal Universities and Research Institutions’ research grants and endowment funds from the TSA.
The guidelines require federal universities and research institutions to get the AGF’s approval before opening research grant/endowment fund accounts with commercial banks.
It further states that all other accounts must remain with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Madein, whose office supervises TSA policy, stated that all research grants and endowment revenue must be supported by a well-executed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) between tertiary institutions and the granting bodies.
According to her, the OAGF must keep a record of all research grant/endowment fund bank accounts established by all Federal Universities and Research Institutions with presidential approval.
“The management of the accounts, including accounting and reporting of transactions with the commercial banks shall be restricted to the bursary/accounts departments of the tertiary institutions,” she stated.
The AGF reaffirmed that the research grant/endowment fund accounts would only be used to receive grants.
She said that on no grounds should other public funds be operated in such accounts.
“Such accounts shall not be deemed to be the operational accounts of the tertiary institutions/research institutes,” she said.
She said that annual returns, including bank statements and bank reconciliation statements on the research grants/endowment accounts, would be submitted by the institutions to her office for reconciliation.
She stated that the annual returns would be reconciled into the government’s General Purpose Financial Statement.
According to her, all of the institutions’ operations must rigorously adhere to the TSA/e-collection policy guidelines.
Remember that the OAGF previously provided operational guidelines for tertiary institutions’ withdrawal from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
According to the guidelines, the office will process tertiary institution payrolls for the month of October using the IPPIS platform.
It stated that the ones for November and December will be processed by the institution, checked by the OAGF IPPIS, and paid via the GIFMIS portal.
