By David Akinmola
The Federal Government has warned that ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) that fail to comply with prescribed financial reporting requirements by the end of 2025 may face suspension of fund releases.
In a circular dated December 22, 2025, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, directed all MDAs to prepare and submit their stand-alone annual financial statements to the Treasury on or before December 31, 2025, stressing that defaulting agencies would not be spared.
According to the circular, any MDA that fails to render its yearly accounts would have its funds withheld indefinitely, while the director or head of accounts and administration would be formally queried.
The directive, titled Guidelines on Financial Activities for End of Year 2025, also mandates MDAs to ensure that all revenues due to the Federation Account and the Consolidated Revenue Fund through the Treasury Single Account (TSA) Sub-Recurrent account are fully collected and properly accounted for.
Under the guidelines, MDAs are to retain 50 per cent of their gross internally generated revenue (IGR) and remit the remaining 50 per cent to the TSA Sub-Recurrent account, in line with an earlier finance circular issued on December 28, 2023.
The circular adds that reports on the collection, utilisation and remittance of such revenues must be uploaded on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform.
On the remittance of operating surpluses, the Accountant-General directed government corporations, agencies and departments listed under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, to limit total budgetary expenditure to 50 per cent of gross revenue. Of the balance, 80 per cent is to be paid into the TSA Sub-Recurrent account as interim or advance operating surplus.
The Federal Government has repeatedly insisted that MDAs must return unspent funds to the Treasury at the close of each accounting year. While the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) disclosed that over N5 trillion in operating surpluses had been remitted by MDAs between 2007 and 2024, it lamented that more than N1.5 trillion was lost due to non-remittance of the statutory 80 per cent operating surplus by some agencies.
Earlier in the year, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, warned that MDAs that flout the revised cash planning policy risk having their capital funds blocked. Similarly, in July, the Office of the Accountant-General introduced stricter controls following a surge in unretired advances and idle cash balances, cautioning that MDAs must submit annual reports on unretired advances or face sanctions, including the withdrawal of imprest privileges.
