Treasury Single Account Policy and Financial Administration in Public Tertiary Institutions in Oyo State, Nigeria: Implications for Institutional Autonomy, Operational Efficiency, And Internally Generated Revenue

This study examined the implications of Treasury Single Account implementation for financial administration in selected public tertiary institutions in Oyo State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigated the relationships among Treasury Single Account implementation, institutional autonomy, operational efficiency, internally generated revenue utilisation, and financial administration. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Data were collected from 120 academic and senior non-academic staff purposively selected from four state-owned tertiary institutions through a structured questionnaire. Instrument validity was established using expert review and Exploratory Factor Analysis (KMO = 0.79; Bartlett’s Test χ² = 892.40, p < 0.001), while reliability coefficients ranged from 0.76 to 0.86 (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation, and Multiple Linear Regression. The findings revealed that Treasury Single Account implementation significantly improves financial administration through enhanced accountability and transparency (β = 0.48, p < 0.001). However, Treasury Single Account implementation significantly reduces institutional autonomy (β = −0.31, p < 0.001) and flexibility in the utilisation of internally generated revenue (β = −0.22, p = 0.005). Operational efficiency demonstrated a modest positive contribution to financial administration (β = 0.29, p = 0.002). The regression model explained approximately 50% of the variance in financial administration (R² = 0.50). The study concluded that although Treasury Single Account implementation has strengthened public financial accountability, policy refinements are required to improve institutional responsiveness without compromising fiscal discipline. It is recommended that a differentiated Treasury Single Account framework be introduced to permit regulated access to internally generated revenue through ring-fenced subsidiary accounts supported by stringent auditing and accountability mechanisms.

Treasury Single Account; financial administration; institutional autonomy; operational efficiency; internally generated revenue; public tertiary institutions; public financial management

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