The Federal Government will from January 1, 2026 enforce a full cashless system for all payments made to its ministries, departments and agencies, effectively banning cash transactions for government services.

According to a document released yesterday by the Ministry of Finance, the move introduces a new mandatory e-receipt system, known as the Federal Treasury e-Receipt (FTeR), alongside the nationwide rollout of the Revenue Optimisation Platform (RevOp) — a unified digital system for tracking and reconciling government revenues.

The ministry explained that from the effective date, the FTeR will become the only legally recognised receipt for any federal payment, marking what it called a radical shift in how Nigerians interact with government services. The change, it noted, will affect citizens, businesses, MDAs, financial institutions and digital service providers.

The government expects the reform to plug revenue leakages and stop unauthorised deductions by MDAs using unapproved payment platforms. The ministry said the cashless mandate would help recover funds previously “considered lost” and align with Nigeria’s anti-corruption and fiscal transparency agenda.

It added that RevOp will strengthen accountability across government by cutting out human discretion, eliminating cash handling, enforcing full audit trails and providing real-time digital insights. The platform will integrate major public finance systems — including the TSA, GIFMIS, CBN, NIBSS, FIRS and all MDAs — into a single digital ecosystem.