FG Drops Plan to Reduce Numbers of Diplomatic Missions

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Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The federal government has backed down from a move to review the number of foreign missions.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, disclosed this at the 22nd edition of the PMB Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023) in Abuja.

The federal government had in October last year, inaugurated a 13-man presidential committee, headed by Ambassador Martin Uhomoibi, to review the number of the country’s diplomatic missions worldwide and their level of chronic indebtedness.

But Onyeama said pruning down the number of foreign missions could undermine Nigeria’s bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council as well as create challenges of reimbursing local workers affected by any lay off.

He said reducing the size of the foreign missions is not an option as many Nigerian citizens, who transact business in different countries will also require consular support and assistance.

“We do want to rationalise but in a true…



Source: Thisday Newspaper