From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
House of Representatives, yesterday, summoned Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geofrey Onyeama, and the Permanent Secretary, Gabriel Addu’a, over alleged directive to foreign missions to flout the Appropriation Act.
The House expressed anger over the poor state of the various foreign mission, attributing to alleged disregard for the Appropriation Act.
Consequently, it directed the Foreign Affairs ministry to comply with the provision of Section 11 of 2022 Appropriations Act (Power of Nigerian Embassies and Missions) and report back to parliament, within one week.
This followed the adoption of a motion by Maigari Bello Kasımu, calling on the House to compel the ministry to implement the 2022 Appropriation Act.
Kasımu, in his lead debate, told the House that the Foreign Affairs ministry, has, for a long time, been allegedly involved in actions and inactions that made it impossible for foreign missions to live up to expectations.
According to him, “Nigerian foreign missions and service officers have been at the receiving end of the negative effects of the actions and inactions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters, which have sometimes resulted in hiring taxis for diplomats on official duties and in the forceful ejection of ambassadors/high commissions and other foreign service officers from rented apartments with their personal effects and other property thrown into the streets of capital cities of the world even when such embassies/high commissions have budgeted capital funds in various bank accounts and not being utilised.