TSA: Senate halts move to break SystemSpecs monopoly

The senate committee on banking, insurance, and other financial institutions may have dropped the idea of breaking the monopoly of SystemSpecs Limited, which manages the Treasury Single Account of the Federal Government.

The Senate panel had in November commenced a probe of the firm with a view to ensuring the involvement of more firms in the TSA management.

The chairman of the senate panel, Uba Sani, had summoned the management of SystemSpecs to appear before his committee with relevant documents, especially its audited accounts.

The letter of invitation to the firm, obtained at the Senate by our correspondent then, explained that the committee had been inundated with series of petitions.

It explained that the petitioners had expressed fears that the continued monopoly of the TSA by SystemSpecs Limited, which is using the Remita platform, posed great security risk to the nation’s economy.

The letter, dated 18th November, 2019, enumerated six dangerous risks the nation could be exposed to if the monopoly of SystemSpecs was not immediately checked.

But SystemSpecs in its response, through a letter signed by its Managing Director /Chief Executive Officer, John Tata, allayed the fears of the Senate over the issues raised against the firm’s monopoly.

In the 11-page letter also obtained from the Senate, the company said its sole management of the nation’s TSA did not pose any threat or risk whatsoever to the Nigerian economy.

Investigation by our correspondent on Thursday revealed that the leadership of the upper chamber had cautioned the Sani-led panel investigating the company.

A senator, who is a member of the committee, told our correspondent in confidence the panel had shelved the idea of breaking the monopoly of SystemSpecs.

He said, “We are already in touch with the Federal Ministry of Finance and management of SystemSpecs and from all indications, the current arrangement seems to be working for the country.

“We were acting on petitions from certain people, who drew the Senate attention to the dangers inherent in the current monopoly by SystemSpecs but a careful investigation revealed that it wasn’t as serious as being projected.”