ADC Accuses Tinubu of Diplomatic Missteps Over Ambassadorial Postings
The opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of diplomatic missteps over the announcement of ambassadorial postings, describing it as a blunder and confirmation of the government’s “storied incompetence.”
In a statement signed on Friday, 6 March, by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, the party said publicly announcing postings before securing the required agrément from host countries—as stipulated under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations—exposes Nigeria to diplomatic embarrassment.
The ADC also questioned why only 65 ambassadors were announced for Nigeria’s roughly 109 diplomatic missions, while the government remained silent about the other 44 missions without envoys.
The full 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, the government shows it 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 due diligence. To save the sending country embarrassment, the process is usually conducted 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. Why did it take more than three months after nominating these ambassadors before requesting consent? We also note how conspicuously silent the government is on the US mission.
“Equally troubling is the incomplete nature of the announcement. Nigeria maintains 109 diplomatic missions, yet only 65 ambassadors have been announced. What happens to the remaining 44 missions? Are those posts to remain vacant indefinitely while Nigeria’s diplomatic presence shrinks amid rising global uncertainty? Is Nigeria closing down or degrading these missions? What strategy would inform this choice?
“The Tinubu government has 449 days left. As 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 highest levels of global governance. The damage that could do is hard to contemplate.”
