President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday called for the record of former government officials and other persons still using diplomatic and official passports illegally.
He called for the record during briefing by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bulus Lolo, at the State House, Abuja.
Buhari, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said that his administration will take necessary action against such officials illegally carrying the passports.
He said: “Something has to be done so that we can get back our respectability as a country. Some people carry official passports and get involved in all sorts of negative acts. We need to do something about it.”
He also said that his administration will undertake a review of Nigerian foreign missions to determine those that are really essential.
A Presidential Committee, he said, will soon be established to carry out the review.
The President said the review will determine the number of essential missions Nigeria needs to maintain abroad so that appropriate standards and quality can be maintained.
According to him, there was no point in Nigeria operating missions all over the world “with dilapidated facilities and demoralized staff” when the need for some of the missions was questionable.
“Let’s keep only what we can manage. We can’t afford much for now. There’s no point pretending,” President Buhari stated.