Reps committee rejects foreign affairs’ 2023 budget presentation over alleged infractions

The House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday turned down the 2023 budget proposal brought before it for consideration by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by its Minister, Godfrey Onyeama, citing several infractions.

During the defence of the budget defence session at the National Assembly, the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Yusuf Yakub declared that the Committee would not entertain the presentation because the ministry broke section 10 of the 2022 Appropriations Act (as amended).

He expressed deep concern that the ministry did not honour a letter sent to the minister informing him that the embassies can form tender board to spend their capital component of the budget.

According to him, “It follows that all funds appropriated to MDAs like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others, must be accounted for before the Ministry is able to come to request for another such appropriation, hence this budget defense session.

“One is, therefore, surprised and, indeed, it beats every logic that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has deliberately refused to abide by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and by other statutes of the land, including the Standing Orders of the House. The question this Committee is asking the Minister of Foreign Affairs is: Is he bigger than Nigeria and its laws? Or how else will one explain the flagrant abuse of the laws of the land even when we have continued to write letters to the Ministry reminding it of relevant provisions of our laws that demand abiding by?

“According to Section 10 of the Appropriations Act 2022 (as Amended), Missions and Embassies have been empowered to constitute their Tender Board for the purpose of the procurements they need to make. We have called the attention of the Minister to this Act, but he has continued to direct the Missions not to obey this law despite receiving about four letters on the issue, including the latest one of 6 September 2022.

“In addition to the above, Section 7 of the Appropriations Act 2022 (As Amended), captures, inter alia, that ‘The Minister of Finance shall ensure that funds appropriated under this Act are released to the appropriate agencies and or organs of government as and when due, provided that no funds for any quarter of the fiscal year shall be deferred without a prior waiver from the National Assembly’. In total disregard for the above, the Ministry has continued to direct Missions to retain and spend monies in their capital accounts without any waivers from the National Assembly. A 23rd September 2022 letter by this Committee that was sent to the Ministry, as a reminder to earlier ones, still did not stop the Ministry from flouting the laws of the land.

“Being aware that administrative charges have been approved at the Missions by Mr President, this Committee, in line with Section 80 (3 and 4) CFRN (As Amended) has also observed that in total disregard to what the law says, the Minister has continued to authorise the spending of monies generated through administrative charges at the Missions without being appropriated by the National Assembly.

“In conclusion, it is important to note that this Committee has continued to draw the attention of the Ministry to the above-noted infractions, but all to no avail.”

The chairman added that the committee wrote series of letters to the minister but none was heeded.

According to him, “We will not take your budget presentation because the committee has discovered some infraction in the ministry. On the 18th of January, I wrote a letter to the minister informing him that we are in the know that embassies can now form tenders board to spend their capital component of the budget and on the 20th of the same month, the ministry sent a telex telling the Embassies not to comply with this directives.

“On the 19th, we sent another letter to the missions directly since the ministry has asked them not to comply with the National Assembly to obey the law of the land, the ministry sent another letter on the 16th of June signed by the ambassador, Janet that they should not adhere to those laws, it was at that point Mr. Speaker invited you and your team and then we showed you these communications which you said these letters did not get you but your perm sec sent the first letter a day after ambassador, Janet sent the second letter specifically directing the embassies not to obey section 10 of the appropriation act and then recently on the 6th of September 2022.

“I also sent a letter to the office of the Minister reminding you that the amendment appropriation act has been accented to by Mr president making it a law of the land, asking you inform the embassies to start implementing the law. The committee went on oversight. None of the embassies we visited received the telegraph to implement that. On the 23rd of September, I sent another letter reminding you of section 7 of the appropriation act but yet the embassies were not communicated.

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“Hon. Minister, your staff have been writing telex even though you are not aware it is expected that you are aware. Messages have been sent to embassies to disregard and disrespect the laws of federal republic of Nigeria. So, that is why we will not take your budget presentation of 2023 until these infractions are adhered to,” he said.

The chairman said that however prescribed some conditions which he said must be met before the committee would backtrack on its decision.

According to him, “Consequent upon the degree of the above-noted laxity, the Committee has resolved as follows: That it will not consider the present 2023 appropriation proposal of the Ministry until it does the following:

“Directs all Missions to abide by Section 10 of the 2022 Appropriations Act (as Amended); furnish the National Assembly with the 2023 budget proposals in respect to targeted revenues from administrative charges at the missions and embassies;

“Furnish the Committee with the list of unspent funds under the capital component of the Missions’ allocations for the necessary waivers of the National Assembly.

“The committee will look through the document you have submitted and then we will communicate to you with a new date if we think this document satisfied what we demanded from the ministry but if not we will put your budget defence in abeyance,” he said.

However, while responding,, the Minister denied the allegations, saying that he did not flaunt the laws of the land or directed such to be done.

According to him, “I did not in anyway tell them to disregard these requirements regarding the administrative charges. We are also in the process of explaining to them what they have to do to send it for appropriation before spending not just spending anyhow also on unspent funds under capital-seeking weavers for them to be able to apply it under other heads again.

“We have brought this to their attention and again we are in the process of developing template for all the mission to follow. I would like to beg Mr. Chairman that contrary to your assertion that the ministry is in no way trying to flaunt the laws of the land and trying to appropriate to itself powers that it dose not have. We have here and we can submit to this committee evidence of directives we have given to the missions.”