FG jilts REMITA, unveils new revenue collection platform

Federal Government, Tuesday will unveil a new payment platform to replace REMITA, which has been used for revenue collection.

This was revealed in a memo from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, dated February 28, 2025.

The new platform, named Treasury Management & Revenue Assurance System, is designed to streamline and manage federal revenue collections and payments across ministries, departments, and agencies, including those benefiting from donor funds, trust funds, social security funds, and special funds.

“The system would go live on March 4, 2025, as it will be deployed in two phases,” the memo noted.

According to the memo, the first phase will cover payments and collections for the naira component only.

It will also enable the OAGF and MDAs to generate bank statements, track balances, and activate automatic deduction and remittance of taxes associated with vendor and contractor payments, including VAT, Withholding Tax, and Stamp Duty.

The second phase, expected to commence on June 1, 2025, will cover collections and payments involving foreign exchange and integration with MDA Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

“This phase shall also cover activation of the budget module for MDAs not in the national budget and other non-budgetary financial activities to enforce budget control,” the memo stated.

The document further emphasised that automatic deduction of 50% of Internally Generated Revenue from Federal Government agencies and parastatals will remain in effect.

“The split will be managed through the front-end of the TMRAS. The system is designed to automatically split IGR to ensure immediate remittance of the split to both the Federal Government’s account and the dedicated accounts of the respective MDA. Additionally, the system generates and provides detailed reports to both the OAGF and the MDA for transparency and accountability.”

It added that all extra-budgetary payments, including those from Special Accounts, will now be processed exclusively through TMRAS.

“This measure is aimed at completely eliminating the issuance of manual mandates to further enhance transparency, accountability, and efficient management of public funds,” the memo stated.

Additionally, only CBN-licensed Payment Solution Service Providers approved by the OAGF will be permitted to collect government revenue.

“MDAs are advised to direct all PSSPs currently collecting on their behalf to connect with the official CBN-payment gateway, for instant coordination of government collections on the platform. The process of profiling PSSPs shall commence immediately, and approved PSSPs by the Treasury shall be certificated and listed on the TMRAS for collections.”

To ensure a smooth transition, REMITA will continue running concurrently with TMRAS from March 4 to May 4, 2025.

“After this transition period, all MDAs would have stabilised on the new platform and will be expected to initiate their payments only on TMRAS,” it added.

Acoording to the Federal Government, the new system aligns with the commitment of the Coordinating Minister of Finance and National Economy, Wale Edun, to achieve “effective Treasury Management, Revenue Assurance, and improved Budget Performance of all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, including Federal Government-Owned Enterprises.”