Buhari Moves to Cut Nigeria's Foreign Missions
Sep 8 2015 5:13PM
Nigeria Daily Trust
To sanction ex-govt officials holding diplomatic passports
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his administration will undertake a review of Nigerian foreign missions to determine those that are really essential.
The president said this at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday after receiving a presentation from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bulus Lolo.
Buhari stated that a presidential committee will soon be established to carry out the review.
The president said the country must keep only what it could manage, emphasising that the nation could not afford much now.
He said there was no point in Nigeria operating missions all over the world "with dilapidated facilities and demoralised staff" when, according to him; the need for some of the missions was questionable.
According to Buhari, the review will determine the number of essential missions Nigeria needs to maintain abroad so that appropriate standards and quality can be maintained.
"Let's keep only what we can manage. We can't afford much for now. There's no point in pretending" President Buhari said.
Addressing State House correspondents later, the permanent secretary said Nigeria had 119 missions abroad at the moment and that Buhari asked the ministry to be realistic in terms of the nation's representation abroad.
"We have 119 missions. He (the president) asked the questions whether we need to have that number or we rationalised based on our capacity. Right now, the economy is looking down. We are trying to revive and revamp. It is a matter of time. The specific directive he has given is that a committee be formed to look at the whole issue of our representation abroad, the size and the number of missions on whether or not the number should remain the same or we do something about those numbers," Lolo said.
Nigeria Daily Trust
To sanction ex-govt officials holding diplomatic passports
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his administration will undertake a review of Nigerian foreign missions to determine those that are really essential.
The president said this at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday after receiving a presentation from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bulus Lolo.
Buhari stated that a presidential committee will soon be established to carry out the review.
The president said the country must keep only what it could manage, emphasising that the nation could not afford much now.
He said there was no point in Nigeria operating missions all over the world "with dilapidated facilities and demoralised staff" when, according to him; the need for some of the missions was questionable.
According to Buhari, the review will determine the number of essential missions Nigeria needs to maintain abroad so that appropriate standards and quality can be maintained.
"Let's keep only what we can manage. We can't afford much for now. There's no point in pretending" President Buhari said.
Addressing State House correspondents later, the permanent secretary said Nigeria had 119 missions abroad at the moment and that Buhari asked the ministry to be realistic in terms of the nation's representation abroad.
"We have 119 missions. He (the president) asked the questions whether we need to have that number or we rationalised based on our capacity. Right now, the economy is looking down. We are trying to revive and revamp. It is a matter of time. The specific directive he has given is that a committee be formed to look at the whole issue of our representation abroad, the size and the number of missions on whether or not the number should remain the same or we do something about those numbers," Lolo said.
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