GCN Project: NASS joint committee oversights Foreign Affairs Ministry
NAN-H-147
Oversight
By Cecilia John
Abuja, Feb. 13, 2017 (NAN) The National Assembly Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs on Monday asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explain the implementation level of Global Communication Network (GCN) project.
The project was initiated by the ministry to enable the head office communicate effectively with embassies and missions abroad.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu, said the oversight was informed by the need for the committee to know the level of implementation of the project, particularly from the 2016 Budget.
She said until that is done, the national assembly would not proceed with the ministry’s proposed 2017 budget defence.
Sunmonu said efforts since August 2016 to embark on the oversight failed owing to the fact that the ministry failed to submit relevant documents on the implementation of projects captured in the budget, including GCN project.
“When we do oversight, we always want papers, documents to be presented to legislators to go through then it is on the basis of that that we pick whatever we want to see.
“A letter was sent on the 29th of August 2016, requesting some documents from the ministry of foreign affairs.
“Another one was sent on the 24th of November, 2016.
“Between August and November the committee came here, unfortunately we could not do our oversight because of some excuses being given to us.
“We need this for the 2017 budget. We need to see the GCN project and probably to go into the holding room.
“We are working without prejudice and we believe that we must work adequately,’’ she said.
The chairperson said the clerks of the Senate and House of Representatives committees would get back to the ministry following the committee’s findings during the oversight.
She stressed that the committee would request for more documents before proceeding with the 2017 budget defence.
On her part, the Chairperson, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Nnenna Ukeje, expressed concern that in spite of the amount of money appropriated on the GCN project, the cost of travel in the ministry was on the rise.
“The justification on the GCN was that it was going to cut down on the amount of money that was spent on travelling.
“The justification again is that we will be able to get information in real and follow through on information from other countries.
“The question we have always asked in the parliament is, how come with the amount of monies that have been appropriated on the GCN projects that the cost of travel had continued to rise.
“The cost implication is waste and we will try to cut the waste,’’ she said.
Earlier, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, said the ministry had been facing infrastructural challenges with regard to the head office building.
He said the ministry would always interface with the national assembly to find solution to some of the challenges, including maintenance.
According to him, this will enable the ministry to ensure an enabling environment to showcase Nigeria outside the world.
“We look forward to taking you round to look at the structure that we have. In many ways, this building is one to be proud of and our country should also be proud of.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a window to the outside world and we really need to ensure that it represents the best of this country.
“The decision to build this edifice was a very important one but there have been infrastructural challenges and other challenges.
“We look forward to sharing some of these things with you in the hope that we will all be able together find the way forward.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the foreign affairs head office is connected to 66 embassies and high commissions abroad following the launch of the GCN and ICT training centre.
The project was designed to bring real-time secure communication with embassies and missions abroad. (NAN)
CJM/KOO/MST
Edited by Kevin Okenzua/Muhammad Suleiman Tola