President Bola Tinubu is expected to announce his ambassadors in the coming weeks, according to one of his aides, Ademola Oshodi.
Oshodi, who serves as the Senior Special Adviser on Foreign Affairs and Protocol to the President, made this statement during the 2024 Year-In-Review programme on Channels Television on Sunday.
“I believe in the next few weeks, there will be a pronouncement for the ambassadors, and steps will be taken by the Senate and accreditation to put them in place in their various missions around the world,” he said.
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During the program, Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Benin Republic, Lawrence Obisakin, and former High Commissioner to Australia, Ayoola Olukanni, criticized President Tinubu for failing to appoint new ambassadors, even 16 months after recalling all career and political ambassadors representing Nigeria abroad.
On September 2, 2023, three months after Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos, assumed office as President, he recalled all Nigerian ambassadors stationed at over 100 embassies and high commissions worldwide.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, explained that the ambassadors served at the President’s discretion in their respective countries, and it was within the President’s prerogative to either send or recall them.
Despite this, 16 months have passed without the President presenting a list of new ambassadors for Senate approval and assignment to foreign missions, even as Nigeria continues to host ambassadors from other nations with missions in Abuja.
Oshodi defended the President, stating that he has been focused on preparing for the appointment and deployment of the new envoys.
The presidential aide said, “The ambassadors are coming but the most important thing we should realise is that things are being put in place for the ambassadors and the high commissioners. We have chargé d’affaires to the nations, and consul generals that have been sent, more of a prelude to the ambassadors’ arrival.
“The foreign missions are not in dire straits. The president inherited missions that were not in great shape. So, things have to be put in shape and prepared for the ambassadors, and their families, dignitaries, diplomats, etc.
“It is something that the President and his administration are focused on. As much as the ambassadors are key, I want to clearly state that even the last administration, without giving excuses, took 20 months for them to put ambassadors in place.”
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