Ambassadors’ Posting, Another Tinubu’s Blunder, Evidence of Incompetence — ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the Tinubu administration’s announcement of ambassadorial postings, labelling it a “diplomatic blunder” and further evidence of government incompetence.

In a statement released by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary, the party argued that announcing the postings before securing “agrément” (official consent) from host countries violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The ADC noted that this public disclosure exposes Nigeria to potential international embarrassment should a host country reject a nominee.

The party also raised concerns over the scale of the appointments, questioning why only 65 ambassadors were named for Nigeria’s 109 missions, while the government remains silent about the other 44 missions without envoys.

The statement read: “After nearly three years in office, and three months after the Senate confirmation of the ambassadors, today’s announcement by the State House puts the cart before the horse and demonstrates the Tinubu administration’s inability to grasp the basic protocol of diplomatic relations.

“Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, particularly Article 4, a sending state must first obtain the consent, known as agrément, of the receiving state before officially appointing or announcing a head of mission. Requests for agrément are a foundational principle of international diplomacy and are normally done through diplomatic channels.

“By announcing appointments and then requesting consent, it indicates that the government does not know what it is doing. You cannot announce postings and say in the same statement that you are just requesting agrément. This absurdity becomes even more apparent when one considers that the receiving country reserves the right to accept or reject a nomination after conducting its due diligence. It is in order to save the sending country the embarrassment that a rejection may cause that the process is usually done behind the scenes. But this government does not get it.

“After the blunder of similarly announcing postings to the UK, the United States, and France last year, including sending an unscreened ambassador to Turkey, we would have expected the government to learn its lessons and course-correct.

“Characteristically, the Tinubu government appears more concerned with responding to political pressure than doing the right thing. The question to ask is: why did it take the government more than three months after nominating these ambassadors before now requesting consent? We also note how conspicuously silent the government is on the US mission.

“Equally troubling is the incomplete nature of the announcement itself. Nigeria maintains 109 diplomatic missions around the world, yet the government has only announced 65 ambassadors. What happens to the remaining 44 missions? Are those posts to remain vacant indefinitely while Nigeria’s diplomatic presence continues to shrink at a time of rising global uncertainty? Is Nigeria closing down or degrading these missions? What strategy would have informed this choice?

“The Tinubu government has 449 days left. And like we have repeatedly warned, this may be the first administration in Nigeria so incompetent that it could not even appoint ambassadors at a time Nigeria needs to sit at the table at the highest levels of global governance. The damage that would do to the country is indeed hard to contemplate.“