Members of the House of Representatives today expressed anger at the revelation that the children of Nigeria’s ambassadors were sent to school at the expense of the country in 2011 to the tune of N4.8 billion.
The amount far exceeded what was approved for the purpose.
The fund is handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, headed by Nnena Elendu-Ukeje, said this development is not acceptable as the Ministry has again budgeted only N5.2 million for the same purpose this year.
The House said it was almost certain that the ministry would exceed the proposed N5.2 million in this year’s budget.
The House expressed its displeasure over the development when the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, and his team appeared before the committee to defend this year’s budget.
Elendu-Ukeje said it would be better for the ministry to concentrate on the training of diplomats instead of spending so much on other things that are not beneficial to the country.
Elendu-Ukeje said: “You have put votes for security in four different places and that is the issue.
“You have four different sub-heads showing security votes. That is not acceptable.”
But Ashiru attempted defending the budget to the best of his ability.
He told the lawmakers that the ministry proposed spending so much on travels and training because the country needs the best to represent it.
He said: “You need to get well-trained diplomats.
“Without training, you will not get good diplomats.
“Without training, there will be no results.
“We send some of them to Oxford, some to Italy as they will be competing with the best from the world.“
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