Reps probe alleged non-payment of diplomats’ allowances

The House of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Foreign Affairs to investigate the allegation of non-payment of allowances of Nigerian diplomats in Cuba.‎
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The assembly charged the committee to determine who might have played any role in the problem in Cuba and other Nigerian missions and report back in six weeks for further legislative action. ‎
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The directive followed the unanimous adoption of a motion ‎ by Rep. Muhammadu Faruk (APC-Niger)‎ at the plenary, presided by the Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara on Thursday.
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Moving the motion, Faruk said ‎ there was an allegation that Nigerian diplomats in Cuba were stranded because the Federal Government had not remitted their allowances for nine months.
He said the development had reduced the diplomats to beggars.
The legislator said information showed that the embassy officials had no access to medical and educational facilities owing to the non-payment of their allowances.
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He said that the Central Bank of Nigeria had not been able to remit their allowances as a result of the U.S.-Cuba disagreements.
Faruk said the development had rendered the diplomats unable to take care of their families in a foreign land, thus putting the reputation of the country at stake in the comity of nations. (NAN)