Nigerian Diplomats Owe New York $.5m in Parking Tickets

New York City has said that Nigeria owe it more than $500,000 in unpaid parking tickets issued to Nigerian diplomatic vehicles in New York.

The sum is part of the over $16 million owed the city by more than 180 countries.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Nigeria, Indonesia, Brazil, Morocco and Pakistan each owe the New York City more than $500,000:

The Department of Finance however, said that Egypt topped the list with nearly $2 million in outstanding debt as of this summer.

The outstanding payments date back to 2002 in the administration of Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

"The State Department doesn't have the courage to do this: you pull their driver's licenses. They can't drive without a license (despite diplomatic immunity," said Giuliani.

Since then, the amount has been drastically reduced due to a city crackdown of unpaid parking tickets.

Egypt's U.N. mission spokesman tells the Journal he didn't have details about the issue.

Officials for Indonesia, Morocco and Pakistan declined to comment. A spokesman for Brazil says it asked the city for more information.

A message left at Nigeria's U.N. mission wasn't returned.