The Constitutionality or Otherwise of the 2017 Guidelines on the Implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA)/E-Collection in Nigeria

By now, it is trite that Sections 80 (1) and 162 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (the Constitution), provide for the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Federation Account (FA); which sections also exempt certain receipts from the TSA and FA. This paper therefore considers the 2017 Guidelines on the Implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA)/e-Collection (the Guidelines), which the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation empowered to monitor and manage the Treasury Single Account and the Federation Account has issued. This Guidelines directs all federal government Ministries, Departments and Agencies to remit their revenue to the TSA, TSA Sub-Accounts or FA, whilst only exempting Federal Government equity funded enterprises which are still required to pay dividends into the TSA. This sweeping directive is claimed to have been released to ensure total compliance with sections 80 (1) and 162 (1) of the Constitution. It is against the backdrop of the foregoing that this paper x-rays the provisions of the Constitution, and as a corollary, various Acts of the National Assembly, to the end of determining the conformity or otherwise of the Guidelines, to their provisions.众所周知，1999年《尼日利亚联邦共和国宪法》（下称《宪法》）第80条第1款及第162条第1款分别对国库单一账户（Treasury Single Account, TSA）及联邦账户（Federation Account, FA）作出了规定，且前述条款同时明确了若干可免于纳入TSA与FA的收入款项。由负责监督及管理国库单一账户与联邦账户的联邦总会计师办公室发布的《2017年国库单一账户/电子收缴实施指南》（下称《指南》），正是本文的研究对象。该《指南》要求所有联邦政府部委、部门及机构将其收入缴入TSA、TSA子账户或联邦账户，仅豁免由联邦政府注资的企业，但此类企业仍需将股息缴入TSA。此项覆盖范围广泛的指令据称旨在确保完全符合《宪法》第80条第1款及第162条第1款的规定。正是基于前述背景，本文将对《宪法》及相应的尼日利亚国民议会各项法案的条款展开剖析，以判断该《指南》是否符合前述条款的要求。