Reports indicate that India and several other nations have reportedly declined to accept ambassadors-designate nominated by President Bola Tinubu.
This pushback stems from diplomatic policies that discourage receiving envoys from administrations with less than two years remaining in office.
According to Punch, presidency and foreign service officials disclosed on Tuesday that India maintains a standing policy against accepting ambassadors from governments nearing the end of their tenure.
One of the affected nominees is career diplomat Ambassador Muhammad Dahiru, who was recently assigned to New Delhi.
A presidency official noted that India has already signaled a reluctance to grant agrément—the formal approval required before a diplomat can assume duty.
The official explained, “They don’t accept an ambassador from an ambassador from an administration that has less than two years in office. So they are giving us that body language already.”
The source clarified that the hesitation is not due to the individuals themselves but because “they are already seeing the Tinubu government as an outgoing government.”
The officials noted that the concern among these countries is the limited time left in the current term. “So their concern is that he has just one year left, so what if he doesn’t win the election? Another government may come and remove them,” one source said.
Despite this, some senior foreign service officials remain optimistic that Nigeria might secure an exception by leveraging its strong relationship with India.
They also suggested the government could argue that the ruling party has a high chance of victory in the next election, with one official stating, “Perhaps they may see that the election may not be so competitive because virtually everybody has moved towards the APC. They may say the chances for APC’s victory are high. That is one of the arguments the government will push forward.”
While President Tinubu approved 65 ambassadors-designate on March 6, only the United Kingdom and France have so far granted agrément to their respective nominees, High Commissioner-designate Aminu Dalhatu and Ambassador Ayodele Oke.
Former Nigerian envoy to Singapore, Ambassador Ogbole Amedu-Ode, described the stance of the receiving countries as pragmatic, asking, “So, why receive letters of credence from a principal envoy from a President who has just one year and some months remaining for his first term in office? So, they may dilly-dally in issuing an agrément.”
He also criticized the administration’s timing, noting, “The mistake has been made by the current administration already because they shouldn’t have waited two to three years into their term before nomination, screening, and deployment of heads of missions.”
