ADC Slams Tinubu’s Ambassadorial Postings, Calls It Diplomatic Blunder

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the ambassadorial postings recently announced by President Bola Tinubu, describing the move as a diplomatic blunder and evidence of incompetence by the administration.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the government erred by publicly announcing ambassadorial postings before securing the consent of host countries, known as agrément.

According to the ADC, the move contradicts established diplomatic protocol under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Abdullahi explained that announcing postings before obtaining agrément from receiving countries exposes Nigeria to potential diplomatic embarrassment.

“Publicly announcing the postings before securing the required agrément from host countries exposes Nigeria to avoidable diplomatic embarrassment,” he said.

He noted that Article 4 of the Vienna Convention requires a sending state to obtain the consent of the receiving state before appointing or announcing a head of mission.

“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,” Abdullahi stated.

The opposition party also raised concerns over the number of ambassadors announced by the administration.

According to the ADC, although Nigeria operates about 109 diplomatic missions worldwide, the government only announced 65 ambassadors, leaving 44 missions without designated envoys.

“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?” Abdullahi queried.

The party further questioned the delay in seeking consent from host countries months after the nominees were nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

“Why did it take the government more than three months after nominating these ambassadors before now requesting consent?” he asked.

Abdullahi also noted that the government was silent on Nigeria’s diplomatic mission to the United States.

He warned that the development could weaken Nigeria’s diplomatic presence globally.

“The Tinubu government has 449 days left. 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,” he said.