Ambassadors: President Tinubu Has Embarrassed Nigeria – ADC

By Gideon Njoku 

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has mocked President Bola Tinubu  over the postings of 65 Ambassadors-designate  released on Friday.

In mocking him, the ADC accused the Tinubu administration of breaching diplomatic protocol in ambassadorial postings.

According to the Party, the Tinubu Government  breached diplomatic protocol by   announcing the postings when host countries have not accepted them yet.

It described the postings as a diplomatic blunder and “another sign of  government’s incompetence.”

In its statement Friday issued by its  National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said announcing the ambassadorial postings before securing the required  agrément from host countries is a breach of  established diplomatic procedures.

The ADC noted that international diplomatic practice under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, especially, Article 4, requires a country to obtain the consent of the receiving nation before officially announcing the appointment of an ambassador.

ADC:  “After spending nearly three years in office, and even three months after the Senate confirmed the ambassadorial nominees, the latest announcement from the State House appears to have reversed the proper order of things and reflects the Tinubu administration’s failure to understand the fundamental procedures guiding 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”.

Abdullahi’s statement 

explained that the request for agrément is a quiet process  done through diplomatic channels to avoid embarrassment in case the receiving country rejects the nominee.

“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 agreement,” Abdullahi said.

The ADC said the postings has exposed Nigeria to possible diplomatic embarrassment because the receiving country reserves the right to either accept or reject a nominee after conducting its own background checks.

Abdullahi: “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.” 

It reminded that a similar mistake was also made by the government in 2025 when ambassadorial postings to the United Kingdom, United States and France were announced. Only France and the United Kingdom have responded positively. Nothing has been heard from the United States.

The ADC also recalled the sending of an unscreened ambassador to Turkey, and wondered why the FG has not learnt. 

“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. 

“The question to ask is: why did it take the government more than three months after nominating these ambassadors before now requesting consent?

“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?” the party queried.

The party warned that leaving many missions without ambassadors could weaken Nigeria’s diplomatic presence at a time of growing global challenges.

According to Abdullahi, the Tinubu administration has 449 days left in office, warning that the country risks being poorly represented internationally if the situation is not addressed.

“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,” he said.