The Senior Special Adviser on Foreign Affairs and Protocol, Ademola Oshodi, on Sunday, said President Bola Tinubu is set to announce his ambassadors within the next few weeks, New Telegraph reports.
The Presidential aide gave this assurance while speaking on Channels Television’s 2024 Year-In-Review show.
He said, “I think there will be a statement regarding the ambassadors in the coming weeks, and the Senate and accreditation will take action to place them in their various missions around the world.”
Former Nigerian High Commissioner in Australia Ayoola Olukanni and former Nigerian Ambassador to the Benin Republic Lawrence Obisakin criticised Tinubu during the programme for failing to appoint ambassadors 16 months after he recalled all of the country’s political and career ambassadors abroad.
Approximately three months after Tinubu, a former Lagos state governor, took office as Nigeria’s president, on September 2, 2023, he called back all of the Nigerian ambassadors serving in more than 100 Nigerian embassies and high commissions from their host countries.
Yusuf Tuggar, the minister of foreign affairs, had stated that the ambassadors served at the president’s request in their host countries and that it was the president’s “prerogative to send or recall them from any country.”
However, 16 months later, the president has not sent a list of new ambassadors to the Senate for approval and subsequent deployment to missions overseas, even though Nigeria has been hosting ambassadors from other nations with missions in Abuja.
The presidential aide stated, “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 charge d’affaires to the nations, and consul generals that have been sent, more of a prelude to the ambassadors’ arrival.” Oshodi said his principal has been busy setting up the appointment and dispatch of envoys to foreign countries.
“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.
“This is a priority for the President and his administration. Notwithstanding the importance of the ambassadors, I must emphasise unequivocally that even the last administration took 20 months to appoint ambassadors.”
