The Nigerian government is set to close five of its 119 missions worldwide as a way of cutting cost. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onye
The Nigerian government is set to close five of its 119 missions worldwide as a way of cutting cost. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, said the process for closure was underway and was also subject to the approval of the President. He, however, did not name the missions earmarked to be closed.
“We do not want to indicate the embassies that will be closed yet because we are in the process of submitting the proposals, the cost analysis and also the political analysis we did to the President. When he sees that, he may or may not want to close some, so we have not yet reached the stage of closing some,” he said.
“The expense, costs of closing embassies is so high and prohibitive but in the long run, it will be more economical,” he added.
The minister added that the closure of the missions was in line with the agenda of the administration. In September 2015, President Muhammad Buhari set up a committee to review the number of the foreign missions with the aim of cutting cost and making them more efficient.
