The Federal Government has acknowledged growing operational and financial challenges in Nigeria’s diplomatic and consular missions overseas, attributing the strain to changes in foreign exchange policy and budgetary deficits.
Kimiebi Ebienfa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs‘ spokesperson, acknowledged the admission in a statement released Monday.
The ministry admitted that the difficulties had interfered with the efficient operation of several missions, resulting in the payment of rent to service providers and landlords, allowances for home-based officers, and salaries for locally hired employees.
“The ministry is not unaware of the restrictions that financial limitations have placed on the smooth running of the missions, including the inability to pay salaries of locally recruited staff, financial obligations to service providers, rent to landlords, and the foreign service allowance to home-based officers,” the statement said.
The ministry pointed out that insufficient finance over the years has severely weakened missions’ ability to carry out their fundamental diplomatic responsibilities, while emphasising that the situation reflects Nigeria larger economic reality.
The statement reassured Nigerians both domestically and overseas that President Bola Tinubu’s administration continues to place a high premium on the wellbeing of foreign service officers and their families.
“The government is taking decisive and concrete steps to address the issues of fund allocation to all its missions abroad,” the ministry said, disclosing that special intervention funds had been released to ease the burden on affected posts. According to the ministry, over 80 per cent of available funds have already been disbursed, with priority given to service providers, salaries of local staff, and arrears of officers’ claims.
In order to recover deficiencies from the 2024 fiscal year, which it attributed to exchange rate swings brought on by recent monetary policy adjustments, the ministry also reaffirmed its continued cooperation with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
Additionally, it revealed that a second tranche of allocations had been granted. This week, staff and overhead monies will be released more quickly thanks to continuous collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Ministry of Finance.
The ministry stated that it was developing a more sustainable financial structure for the nation’s missions in the future, in line with the government’s larger budgetary changes that are meant to strengthen governance and allocate resources more effectively.
The ministry further expressed hope that the challenges would soon be resolved and thanked the host governments, service providers, and diplomatic personnel for their cooperation and patience.
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