The Federal Government of Nigeria is reportedly trying to sell off the official residence of Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York – that is according tot he House of Representatives who raised the alarm on Tuesday.
According to Punch Newspapers, the House has directed its Committee on Foreign Affairs to conduct a public hearing on the allegation.
It is not clear why the Nigerian government is looking to put the property on the market, which it purchased in 1961. The House has urged, however, that instead of selling the property all together, providing funds for “serious repairs and renovation” of the residence might be a much better idea.
The funds needed? A whopping N350 million. Lawmaker Yakubu Dogara told the House that the residence is in a terrible shape due to “a period of deliberate neglect”.
He alleged that the government had falsely budgeted N2.7 billion to fix the residence in hopes that it would deter repairs and encourage a cheap sale.
“This seems to be the pattern with Nigerian national landed assets all over the world, whose proceeds after sales never come into the coffers of the government, but used to pay for one purported legal debt or the other,” Dogara claimed.
The New York residence has been home to all previous PRs save for the current one, Dogara indicated.
