The Federal Government on Wednesday announced the setting up of an Inter-Ministerial Committee to take inventory of all property and assets belonging to Nigeria abroad.
The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, stated this while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.
The meeting was presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said that government’s decision to verify all its key assets abroad followed a presentation at the Council meeting by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Olugbenga Ashiru, on the necessity for such exercise.
He said the committee would evaluate and appraise the value of the property and key assets belonging to the Nigerian Navy, Foreign Affairs offices, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and other critical agencies abroad with a view to deciding what to do with them.
“Today, President Goodluck Jonathan set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee to go round the world and take inventory of the various property and assets of the Nigerian Government abroad.
“This became necessary following the discussion on the report of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“The purpose of the committee like I said is to take inventory of assets that are out there which we need to work on to add value not only to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but to various agencies of government.
“These assets, estimated at billions and billions of naira and it is the belief of Mr President that every kobo Nigeria has spent over the years abroad on these assets should not be wasted.
“And so, government is going out there to verify these assets, take inventory and then, Committee will be reporting to the Mr President.”
He said the committee, which would be headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, had membership drawn from the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development; Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) and the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).