The committee expressed dissatisfaction over N286 million allocated to service Nigeria’s 109 foreign missions
The House of Representatives committee on foreign affairs has criticised the federal government’s envelope budgeting system, saying it is not recognised by any law in Nigeria.
The committee also expressed dismay over the allocation of a mere N286 million to service Nigeria’s 109 foreign missions, describing the sum as grossly inadequate.
Documents submitted by the federal ministry of foreign affairs to the committee revealed that the ministry had recommended a budget of about N1.5 trillion, based on its needs assessment of the missions. However, the proposal was significantly downsized in the final budget.
Speaking during an interactive session with the ministry and the budget office of the federation on Tuesday, the committee chairman, Rep. Oluwole Oke (PDP Osun), condemned the envelope budgeting practice, stating, “I have not seen anywhere in our laws where envelope budgeting is mentioned.” He described the allocation as “too poor for missions that were supposed to mirror the country’s image. We’re worried that what you submitted to Mr. President was not based on needs assessment, and it is at variance with the law,” Oke added.
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In his response, the Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, acknowledged the inadequacies in the budget but revealed that allocations for foreign missions had been increased by 25 percent in the 2025 budget. He urged the national assembly to pass tax reform bills to boost the nation’s revenue and proposed reducing the number of missions abroad to ease the financial burden.
“Why don’t we consider a significant reduction of our foreign missions until we’re able to improve our revenue?” he suggested. Yakubu emphasized the constraints imposed by the envelope budgeting system, stating, “We have 109 diplomatic missions abroad, comprising 76 embassies, 22 High Commissions, and 11 Consulates. The problem is as ubiquitous as Nigeria’s presence worldwide.”
Yakubu highlighted some improvements in Nigeria’s fiscal position under the current administration, crediting reforms such as the liberalization of the foreign exchange rate and the removal of petroleum subsidies for creating potential savings of about N11 trillion.
He explained, “The savings started to materialize in October last year, but the main beneficiaries, especially the state governments, collected the money and kept mute. We knew they took a lot more than they have for several years.”
He also noted improvements in debt servicing, saying, “The situation was certainly worse three years ago when Nigeria’s debt service consumed almost 100 percent of the country’s revenue. Through debt financial engineering, debt service was brought down to 55 percent in year one under this administration.”
Yakubu lauded President Bola Tinubu’s ambitious targets for revenue generation, including pushing oil output to 2.12 million barrels per day. He said, “Mr. President has gone out of his way to insist on this target because he understands the revenue challenges we face. This year’s budget is ambitious last year it was about N36 trillion, but this year, it is almost N50 trillion.”
While acknowledging the challenges, Yakubu maintained that envelope budgeting is an unavoidable necessity for now. “We have to continue to manage scarcity, whether we call it envelope otherwise,” he stated.
STAR Check: Nigerians, particularly, constituents of Obokon/Oriade federal constituency, Osun State, can keep tabs on the legislative performance of Rep. Oke throughout the 10th House here
