Terminate Passport Production Contract With Foreign Firm – Reps Tell FG

The House of Representatives has condemned a situation where over 70 per cent of Nigerian embassies, high commissions and other foreign missions have received zero allocation for capital expenditure over the years.

The federal lawmakers also asked the federal government to terminate contract with foreign firms printing Nigerian passports.

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs made these in its report that was considered and adopted at the plenary on Wednesday.

The Chairman of the Committee, Yusuf Yakub, who laid the report, said it was part of the committee’s discoveries during oversight visits to Nigerian missions in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and Kingston in Jamaica.

It said these “are a fair representation of what actually obtains in almost all Nigerian foreign missions across the globe.”

The committee said: “From realities on ground, the delegation discovered that over 70 per cent of our Foreign Missions across the world have for several years received zero allocation in their capital budget year in year out. As a result of the above, this reality has led to infrastructural and structural decay in each of the missions;

“The above has caused a situation where Foreign Service officers prefer to rent houses than staying in the missions-owned properties due to their dilapidated state.

“Considering the problem posed by the above, funding is needed to put the issue of renovation and sundry works at almost all our missions abroad to rest.

“The delegation also discovered that the shortage in the number of passports required by Nigerians in the Diaspora has continued to be a major issue at our missions.

“The reality on ground indicates that the Nigerian standard passport and others are still being printed outside the shores of our country.

“The delegation, in its consideration, believes that the problems associated with shortages in the required number of passports for Nigerians abroad can adequately be mitigated by the termination of existing contracts for the printing abroad, while commencing production locally.

“The foregoing will enable Nigeria as a nation to service the increasing needs of its citizens, especially those abroad.”