The Senate has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to terminate its contract with Systemspecs, the company providing e-payment platform for the operation of Treasury Single Account (TSA), for the Nigerian government. This was even as the company responded almost immediately that there was no basis for such termination.
Following a motion by Dino Melaye (APC-Kogi State), the Senate had, last year, constituted an adhoc committee headed by John Enoh (PDP-Cross River State) to investigate allegations that the TSA was being mismanaged and that Systemspecs was making excessive gains off the country.
Melaye alleged that Systemspecs charged the government one percent for each transaction, thereby making N2.5 billion after mopping up N25 Billion transferred to the treasury.
The report of the investigative committee was presented today, Wednesday.
Enoh said his committee confirmed that Systemspecs charged a one-percent fee on every transaction on its platform.
However, Systemspecs Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, John Obaro swiftly responded by saying that those who are opposed to the TSA might include those who have been benefitting from the old pre-TSA order, competitors who lost out in the selection process, un-informed or under-informed commentators, etc.
“In it all, we have always been and will remain fully committed to the full resolution of any issue surrounding the commercial component of our contract in the overall larger national interest.”
Obaro stressed that the company is committed to indigenous technology for national transformation, adding that over the past few months, the company has been inundated with enormous goodwill messages from home and abroad in respect of its successful record in the indigenous software development space over the past 24 years and especially as it relates to its involvement in the government TSA project since 2011.
“On another hand, we have also had to contend with a barrage of questions on the nature of our involvement with the FGN TSA project and the associated commercial terms, arising from the Senate enquiry.
“It is fulfilling to note that the Senate report did not accuse Remita of under-delivering on the substance of the contract and that our efforts are recognised as having played a significant role in the life of the nation when it mattered and that the disagreement has only been on the commercial terms of our contract. The Senate Committee further recommended that SystemSpecs’ efforts should be rewarded – albeit on a scale which is quite debatable.
“Since inception over 24 years, we have chosen to be guided by sound ethical principles and have walked away from many transactions we believe can challenge the standards we have set for ourselves. This is attestable to by the numerous multi-national, indigenous public and private sector organisations and individuals we have been privileged to work with over the years.
“On the FGN TSA project (which many people did not give a chance of success, by the way), we have been careful to respect the terms of our contracts and many times gone beyond the call of duty to ensure the immediate and long-term success of the initiative. We are glad and proud that we have delivered.
“For emphasis, we wish to state that the TSA project goes beyond revenue collections and extends to payments, accounting information exchange and update, full real-time integration with GIFMIS, integration with the national financial services ecosystem enabling payers across multiple platforms, 24/7 user support for 50,000 FGN TSA users of Remita platform, among others.
“It may also be instructive to note that while many things seem to have been muddled up in the public domain for different reasons; e-collections schemes anywhere in the world are a product of negotiations based on scope and complexity of tasks involved.
“The subsisting 1% charge eventually agreed by the CBN, banks and ourselves at the commencement of the project was considered a good starting point which could be reviewed based on emerging realities. This much is a clear and integral part of our contracts with the CBN.
“On a last note, we thank the Senate for its avowed commitment to preserving the national interest, the government for entrusting such a significant national IT project to an indigenous firm, and numerous Nigerians who continue to objectively analyse issues and encourage us particularly during these times.” [myad]
