In a bold move to finally stamp out cash leakages and entrench transparency, the Federal Government has completely prohibited the collection of physical cash by all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and government-owned enterprises, effective immediately.
The sweeping directive is contained in a series of Treasury circulars issued by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) between November 24 and 25, 2025, and obtained exclusively.
Key highlights of the new policy:
- Zero tolerance for cash: “Collections and/or acceptance of physical cash (in Naira or any foreign currency) for ALL revenues due to the Federal Government is strictly prohibited.”
- All revenue must now flow electronically through Treasury-approved platforms and be credited directly into the appropriate Treasury Single Account (TSA).
- Every revenue-collecting point across the country must within 45 days deploy functional Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals or other approved electronic payment devices.
- Large, bold notices reading “NO PHYSICAL CASH RECEIPT” and “NO CASH PAYMENT” must be displayed at every MDA revenue desk, checkpoint, and collection centre nationwide.
- Accounting Officers (Permanent Secretaries, CEOs, etc.) will be personally held liable for any breach, with severe sanctions including possible prosecution.
The OAGF expressed shock that, ten years after the TSA and e-payment policy was introduced, some MDAs were still openly collecting cash, creating massive loopholes for diversion and under-remittance.“
This persistent physical cash collection undermines the integrity of the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), the Remita platform, and the entire TSA architecture,” one of the circulars stated.
The new measures are expected to affect:
- All federal tertiary institutions (universities, polytechnics, colleges of education)
- Teaching hospitals and federal medical centres
- National Parks, NIPOST, Customs (certain low-volume desks), Immigration, NDLEA, NSCDC checkpoints
- Federal airports, seaports, land borders
- Licensing offices (FRSC, CAC, NAFDAC, SON, etc.)
With the 45-day countdown already running (deadline: January 8–9, 2026), MDAs have been ordered to immediately begin sensitisation of staff and the public while fast-tracking procurement and deployment of POS machines.
This is the strongest enforcement action yet on the decade-old e-payment policy and signals the Tinubu administration’s determination to plug revenue leakages estimated at hundreds of billions of naira annually. Analysts say full compliance will dramatically boost federally collectable revenue in 2026 and beyond.
