From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives, yesterday, commenced a probe into alleged “incessant malpractices associated with diplomatic postings in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and deliberate draining of resources in the ministry.”
Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, while declaring open the investigative hearing organised by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said there were petitions from Nigerians within and outside the country on alleged malfeasance in the foreign ministry and its surbordinate agencies.
Gbajabiamila noted that there was hardly a country that he had visited that there were no “embarrassing stories in our missions.”
He said the probe was not intended to single out any group or individual nor take punitive action based on politics.
“We will conduct a thorough review of what is, by every standard, one of our nation’s premier institutions. And we will work with all who bear a responsibility to try to fix what needs fixing and rebuild what is broken,” he stated.
However, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, in his presentation, explained to the lawmakers that the $100 administrative charge added to the fee for Nigerian passport at the foreign missions was only applicable to those who want to fasttrack their biometrics capture.
Comptroller General of Immigration, Muhammed Babandede, said there was intense lobby in the service for posting to foreign missions.
He said posting to diplomatic mission is based majorly on qualifications.