The Federal Government has said South Africa has not formally requested reimbursement from Nigeria for expenses incurred in repatriating Nigerians and other foreign nationals from the country.
The clarification follows reports that South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs told Parliament it had written to Nigeria, Malawi and Ethiopia seeking reimbursement for part of the R292.77 million (about $18 million) spent on accommodating and transporting deportees and voluntary returnees.
Speaking to Vanguard, spokesperson for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, dismissed the report that Nigeria had received such a request.
“It is not true, we have not received any document to that effect.”
Nigeria’s Consul General in South Africa, Mrs Ninikanwa Okey-Uche, also confirmed that no reimbursement request had been communicated to the Nigerian mission in Pretoria.
The South African Home Affairs Director-General, Tommy Makhode, had told the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs that his department spent about R292 million on the repatriation exercise, significantly above its R60 million budget for deportations.
Makhode described the expenditure as unexpected and said the department had approached the governments of Nigeria, Malawi and Ethiopia through South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to seek reimbursement.
According to him, much of the money was spent on transporting migrants, operating temporary repatriation centres and paying staff overtime, while some municipalities and government agencies involved in the operation were also seeking reimbursement.
Onoh Rejects Repatriation Bill
Former South-East spokesman for President Bola Tinubu, Denge Josef Onoh, has also rejected South Africa’s reported demand, calling for the matter to undergo proper diplomatic and legal review.
Onoh argued that expenses incurred by a host country during immigration enforcement should not automatically become the responsibility of another sovereign government.
He urged Nigeria to seek clarification from South Africa on the legal and diplomatic basis for the reported reimbursement request and called for discussions on the treatment of African migrants and businesses in the country.
Onoh also urged Nigeria to work with Malawi, Ethiopia and other affected countries to establish any verifiable economic losses suffered by their nationals and develop a coordinated response.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs; South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs;
