Budget Defence: Buba Decries Activities in the Foreign Affairs Ministry

Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yusuf Buba Yakub, has warned officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to tamper with the reforms approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Adding that the reforms were aimed at ensuring a better fortunes of the Ministry headquarters and it’s Foreign Missions.

Hon. Buba, who condemned the obvious lack of adequate service- delivery by the Ministry and its Foreign Missions said both places have failed in their roles as windows through which the world views Nigeria.

Hon Buba was speaking on Tuesday in Abuja during the budget defence session of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and agencies under it.

He regretted that Nigerians and her citizens, who bear the Standard Green Passports, have remained targets for every kind of maltreatment across the world, while no programme of the Ministry has been initiated to address any of the concerns he raised.

Hon. Buba, in his speech, called on officials of the Ministry to take the opportunity provided by the reforms approved by President Buhari to turn around the Ministry and its outstations in the coming year, emphasising that the oversight function will be strengthened to ensure good utilisation of all funds allocated in the new budget to Sub- heads.

Earlier, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama informed the Committee of the great paucity of funds, which exists in the Ministry and pledged the commitment of the Ministry officials to ensuring a judicious operation of the 2021 budget estimates.

Also speaking, the Interim Director General of the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, Dr. Cyprian T. Heen, lamented the fate that has befallen the once- glorious Institution with over 300 intellectual personnel, which at present has reduced to about 80.

He appealed to the Committee to use the opportunity of the new budget estimates to overhaul the operations and activities of the Institute and the Foreign Service Academy, another academic hub for the training and re-training of Foreign Service officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Members of the Committee, were Hon. Timehin Adelegbe, Hon. Muntari Ahmed, Hon. Maigari Aminu,Hon. Akinremi Olaide Jagaban as well as Hon. Akiolu Kayode and Khadijat Abba- Ibrahim as well as Hons. Miriam Onuoha and Wunmi Onanuga and others took turns to question Ministry officials on both the 2020 budget and the 2021 budget estimates.