The House of Representatives has announced plans to re-evaluate all treaties, agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) entered into by Nigeria with foreign countries, citing concerns over sovereignty, financial exposure and weak legislative oversight.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements, Rabiu Yusuf, disclosed this on Wednesday while addressing journalists at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
Yusuf said Nigeria had, over the years, signed numerous bilateral and multilateral agreements without adequate scrutiny by the legislature, a development he noted had limited the benefits of such treaties to citizens.
According to him, some agreements allegedly contain unfavourable clauses, including hidden obligations, sovereignty waivers, risky arbitration provisions and financial commitments that were not fully understood at the time of signing.
He stressed the need for deeper scrutiny of foreign-funded infrastructure contracts, particularly those involving foreign firms, to assess value for money, loan exposure, compliance with local content laws, contract performance, as well as environmental and labour standards.
“Nigeria cannot afford agreements that weaken our legal authority, compromise national assets or place unsustainable burdens on future generations,” Yusuf said.
The lawmaker explained that the committee’s intervention was aimed at ensuring strict compliance with Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution, which requires legislative approval before international treaties can have domestic effect.
He said the review would help protect the country from harmful financial exposure, poor contract terms and non-performing obligations, while also strengthening transparency, negotiation capacity and treaty oversight mechanisms.
Yusuf noted that international treaties have direct implications for Nigerians’ daily lives, including employment, trade, taxation, infrastructure development and foreign investment, warning that poorly negotiated agreements could weaken the economy, increase public debt and endanger strategic national assets.
He described the committee’s action as patriotic and constitutional, adding that its mandate was to determine whether existing agreements protect or undermine Nigeria’s national interest.
The decision comes amid controversy surrounding a recent MoU signed between the Federal Inland Revenue Service and France’s tax authority, Direction Générale des Finances Publiques. The agreement, signed on December 10, has attracted criticism from groups including the Northern Elders Forum, which has called for its termination over alleged threats to Nigeria’s economic sovereignty and data security.
Concerns over Nigeria’s treaty obligations have intensified in recent years due to rising public debt, disputed loan agreements and controversies surrounding foreign-funded projects. Analysts and civil society groups have repeatedly raised issues around arbitration clauses, debt servicing pressures and weak enforcement of local content and environmental standards.
The House committee’s move reflects growing legislative and public pressure for greater transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s international engagements, particularly at a time of fiscal strain and the need to safeguard national assets while attracting sustainable foreign investment.
