The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has warned Nigerians abroad, government agencies , embassies and high commissions to ignore illegal diaspora groups masquerading as authentic.
NIDCOM’s Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, issued this warning in a post on X last Tuesday.
He said a group, Nigeria Diaspora Forum, had established an office in Abuja for the welfare of Nigerians in the Diaspora, adding that the group has evil and political intentions. He warned Nigerians, ministries, agencies and embassies to be wary of the NDF.
The statement said that NIDCOM is the only Commission authorized by an act of the Parliament to monitor the welfare of Nigerians in the diaspora, in the last four years.
“The so-called Forum, an arm of Labour Party, masquerading as a diaspora group , is not even registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
“We are aware that all registered Political parties including the ruling party, APC, PDP, SDP, NNPP and even LP, etc have diaspora chapters and support groups outside the country and do work to promote and champion their party ideals.
“It is equally sinister that an unregistered body with the Corporate Affairs Commission will fraudulently and boldly announce the setting up of an office to oversee the welfare of Nigerians in Diaspora in Abuja.
“This is no doubt an attempt to fraudulently hoodwink unsuspecting members of the public , ministries, departments and agencies, embassies, high commissions as well as state and local governments.
“We hereby advise all government agencies at both the federal and state levels as well as the diplomatic community to always double check with NIDCOM the status of such groups as NIDCOM has a data base of all registered diaspora groups,” the post read in part.
