House of Reps summons foreign minister to discuss the sorry state of foreign missions

NIGERIA'S foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama has been summoned to appear before the House of Representatives to discuss the poor state of the country's foreign missions with many of them struggling to remain functional.

Debating the matter in a motion moved by Hon Kassim Maigari from  Taraba State, the House called for urgent action to save several of these missions from the embarrassment. Wading into the debate, the speaker, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, said he had shared in the embarrassment and it appears that the bureaucrats in the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs do not appreciate the fact that the missions are a reflection of the country.

Hon Gbajabiamila said he was once in the official car of an ambassador when it broke down and Nigeria's flag had to be rolled up to hide the identity of who was in the vehicle. He pointed out that many of the official cars used in foreign missions are more than 15 years old.

Consequently, the speaker invited foreign minister, Mr Onyeama, for a meeting on the matter, saying he r was miffed that the ministry had the audacity to write the missions to disregard a clause in the 2022 Appropriation Act authorising them to expend capital votes without reference to the ministry. Hon Gbajabiamila lashed out at the ministry for taking the law into its hands when it could have referred whatever reservations it had on the matter to the National Assembly for reconsideration.

According to Hon Gbajabiamila, this amounted to contempt of parliament in the same way that contravening a court order is. Last year, the House had organised a public hearing on the issue, after which far-reaching decisions were taken but it appears none of these were implemented.

Going forward, the House could decided to write the president on the development, strongly expressing its disappointment. Thereafter, if the ministry continues to seize funds due the missions, the two chambers of the National Assembly could exercise their power of appropriation to refuse voting money for the foreign ministry for 2023 until it purges itself of this perceived contempt.

At the moment, Nigerians living abroad or visiting such countries are denied effective service as a result of paucity of funds. At the 2021 public hearing, Mr Onyeama had said the ministry was considering pruning the number of international organisations to which Nigeria belonged to free funds for essential services, including maintaining our foreign missions.

He added that some of the missions could be scaled down, while others could be merged if that would help. In several countries the Nigerian missions struggle to pay their rent when due, while many others owe their staff  huge salary arrears.