Olushola Omogbehin
Finally, President Bola Tinubu is set to release the list of ambassadors to be appointed to the Nigerian foreign missions in major countries around the world.
The move was a follow up to the growing public concern that the long absence of substantive envoys has weakened the country’s diplomatic presence abroad, especially in nations such as the United States.
In September 2023, President Tinubu recalled all envoys from Nigeria’s missions in 76 embassies, 22 high commissions, and 11 consulates across the world to re-evaluate the country’s foreign policy.
The effort of Tinubu administration in appointing new ambassadors since then has suffered multiple delay years into his administration. Foreign missions have since been overseen by chargés d’affaires or senior consular officers.
Earlier this year however, it was reported that the Federal Government had concluded the process of nominating ambassadors with security and background checks by the relevant agencies.
Speaking recently to Punch, top presidential sources disclosed that Tinubu had ordered a “final cleanup” of the list ahead of its release.
According to one of the sources, since the President sent the list to the Senate, some individuals on the list had passed away, while others were no longer eligible for appointment due to retirement, therefore the need to cleanup the envoy list by the presidency.
“The final process is almost completed. The President is committed to making the appointments, and the announcement will come in the next few weeks. However, only ambassadors to major countries will be appointed,” a source said.
Another source said: “The President has said they should clean up the list. I’m sure before the end of the month, it should be ready. There’s no point speculating. When it is ready, it will be officially announced,” the official said.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, confirmed funding challenge earlier this year as the reason for the delay, warning that posting envoys without adequate operational resources would be counterproductive.
To address this, Federal Government earmarked N2.1bn in the 2025 budget for the posting and return entitlements of ambassadors and officers.
