President Bola Tinubu is set to conclude the appointment of ambassadors to Nigeria’s foreign missions worldwide after months of diplomatic gaps and growing pressure over the country’s absence of envoys abroad, The PUNCH has learned.
Multiple Presidency officials familiar with the development told our correspondent that the President had ordered a “final cleanup” of the list of nominees ahead of its release.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to comment publicly.
“It is going to be concluded very soon,” one senior official said.
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The official explained, “They are just cleaning it up now because since the time the President sent it to the Senate, some people on that list have died, and some have retired and are no longer eligible for appointment. Some of them have less than one year left in service.”
He added that the Senate had already screened the nominees, noting that the cleanup was to ensure that no one due for retirement remained on the list.
“The list of those screened has left the Senate long ago; it has been returned to the President,” the source said.
Another source confirmed that security and background clearances were completed months ago. However, a revision became necessary after several nominees passed away, took new appointments, or opted out due to ill health.
“The earlier list sent to the Senate is outdated. Some of the nominees have died, while others are no longer qualified,” the official said.
“The cleanup will ensure that the final list reflects those still available and eligible. The process can be completed in a week; it doesn’t take long to reverify new names.”
The development comes more than two years after Tinubu’s September 2023 decision to recall all ambassadors from Nigeria’s 109 foreign missions — comprising 76 embassies, 22 high commissions, and 11 consulates — as part of a “comprehensive diplomatic review.”
Since then, most missions have been headed by chargés d’affaires or senior consular officers with limited authority to represent Nigeria in formal negotiations.
“The truth is that most foreign governments do not give the same regard to chargés d’affaires as they do to ambassadors,” a senior Foreign Service source said.
“At a time like this, with many diplomatic demands, it is crucial that ambassadors be appointed.”
The push to conclude the ambassadorial appointments comes amid recent diplomatic tension following comments by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened military intervention in Nigeria over alleged killings of Christians.
Trump, in a post on his social media platform on Friday, announced that he was labelling Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern.”
He later claimed to have instructed congressional Republicans to investigate the matter and report back to him.
On Saturday, Trump said he had ordered the U.S. Department of War to “prepare for possible action” in Nigeria over the alleged killings.
He wrote, “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to wipe out the Islamic terrorists committing these atrocities.”
Another Presidency official argued that the crisis was not directly due to the absence of Nigerian ambassadors.
“That’s not to say the lack of ambassadors caused the recent issues with the United States, but their presence could have made communication smoother,”the official noted.