The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, has released guidelines for the exclusion of third-party research grant funds of Federal Universities and Research Institutions from the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
This was contained in a statement issued by Office of the Accountant General of the Federation,OAGF, in Abuja on Thursday announced that these guidelines are contained in a federal treasury circular issued by Dr. Madein, are to be implemented immediately.
The guidelines follow President Bola Tinubu’s approval to exempt research grants and endowment funds of federal universities and research institutions from the TSA policy.
A key aspect of the guidelines mandates that Federal Universities and Research Institutions must secure approval from the AGF before opening research grant or endowment fund accounts with commercial banks.
However, all other institutional accounts must remain with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
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Dr. Madein also emphasized that all research grants and endowment funds must be backed by well-executed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between the institutions and the granting bodies.
Furthermore, the OAGF will maintain a list of all research grant and endowment fund accounts opened by these institutions under the presidential approval.
“The management of these accounts, including accounting and reporting of transactions, shall be restricted to the Bursary/Accounts Departments of the tertiary institutions,” Dr. Madein clarified.
She stressed that these accounts are strictly for receiving grants and must not be used for other public funds. Additionally, they will not be regarded as operational accounts for the institutions.
Institutions are required to submit annual returns, including bank statements and reconciliation reports, to the OAGF for incorporation into the government’s General Purpose Financial Statement (GPFS).
The institutions must also comply with the TSA/e-collection policy guidelines.