Federal Executive Council has directed Ministries Departments and Agencies MDAs, of government to immediately review Nigeria’s membership of over 310 international organizations, following huge financial obligations
FEC also said the country will be exiting from ninety such organizations within the next few weeks to save Nigeria from embarrassment faced by the failure to meet financial obligations.
Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun disclosed this Wednesday while briefing State House Correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The country had in 2006 carried out similar exercise following what it described as heavy debt burden with membership dues of N24.436 billion owed international organizations.
Nigeria, then with membership of 271 international organizations, had withdrawn from about 43 such organizations
But speaking after FEC meeting Wednesday, the Minister said the latest decision followed recommendations of an inter-ministerial working committee on the status of Nigeria’s membership of international organizations and associated financial obligations, adding that the country was spending over $70m on the organization’s per annum.
She also declared that Nigeria was committed to such organizations by Ambassadors and some Directors of MDAs while attending International Conferences, adding that ” the country need to review the process of committing it to such organisations”
Pressed to name the international institutions the country is withdrawing from, the Minister said the Ministry was given two weeks to review Nigeria’s membership of the international institutions, adding that the names will be made public in two weeks.
“Basically Nigeria is a member of 310 international organizations and a committee was set up to review the rationale of our continued membership of such a large number of our organizations, particularly in the light of the fact that in many cases we are not actually paying our financial obligations and subscriptions which is causing some embarrassment to Nigeria and our image abroad”
“In particular, it was discussed that there are some commitments made to international organizations made by former presidents which were not cash backed. So when our delegations turn up at those organizations we become very embarrassed. So that was what drove the committee”
“The committee made some recommendations. That out of the 310 organizations, 220 organizations should be retained and the rest we should withdraw membership from”
“But council directed that more work needed to be done, particularly there was a dispute as to the figure of how much is owed. The committee had a figure of about $ 120 million but we are clear from ministry of Finance and other ministries that is far more than that. Our subscriptions are in arrears in a number of major organizations”
“So the directive of the council was that we should go and reconcile those figures and come back to council and have a payment plan for those figures to avoid Nigeria being embarrassed internationally. And also circulars needed to be issued on who can commit Nigeria because it was discovered it would be a director or an ambassador who attended the meeting who committed subscription on behalf of Nigeria. Of course then the international organization then begins to chase us for its money”
Adesosun said Nigeria needs to tighten up the procedures of committing the country to any form of subscription or donations to international organizations.
“The committee are due to come back in the next two weeks with the final figures. And then ministers were then asked to look at the recommendations of those international organizations which we want to withdraw from and ensure that they are in support of those decisions before we will finalize the work on this issue”
“So basically, this is just prudence and value for money. Nigeria doesn’t need to be a member of every single organizations but those we are members of, we have made a decision as FEC that we must prioritize and pay our obligations because that is part of the nation’s image. That is what gives Nigeria as a country the right to sit up very straight at international meetings, when you haven’t paid up your subscriptions you can’t necessary do so”
Onyinye Nwachukwu, Abuja
