MANY Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAS) have complained of their inability to access funds from their operational accounts domiciled in First Bank PLC.
Our correspondent learnt in Abuja over the weekend that some of the MDAs could not carry out their businesses because no money was left in the accounts.
An employee of First Bank, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Central Bank of Nigeria cleared the accounts by removing monies in them.
But Alhaji Ibrahim Mu’azu, the CBN Director of Communication, said that the MDAs were making false allegations.
He said that apart from the reserve, the apex bank would not mop up MDAs accounts for any reason.
“ I know that what we are trying to follow now is the new government policy on Treasury Single Account (TSA) which gears towards ensuring the safety of all government revenue.
“ All monies that belong to government under this policy will be easily accessed by government,’’ he said.
However, another reliable source from the apex bank said that MDAs would from April 1;access their operational accounts through CBN.
“From April 1, all operational accounts of MDAs will be accessed through the CBN; right now most of the MDAs may not be able to access their funds because we have started the process.
“This is part of the e-banking scheme introduced to help management of government revenues, so henceforth, no Deposit Money Bank (DMB) will house operational accounts of the MDAs,’’ he said
According to him, most MDAs are aware of the situation and the process.