Tinubu’s Ambassadorial Posting Is A Blunder – ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the recent ambassadorial postings by President Bola Tinubu, describing it as a diplomatic blunder and a confirmation of the government’s storied incompetence.

The National Publicity Secretary of ADC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said that publicly announcing the postings before securing the required agrément from host countries, as stipulated under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, exposes Nigeria to diplomatic embarrassment.

He further questioned why only 65 ambassadors were announced for Nigeria’s approximately 109 diplomatic missions, while the government remained silent about the other 44 missions without envoys.

“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.”

The party spokesman said the absurdity becomes even more apparent considering that the receiving country reserves the right to accept or reject a nomination after conducting its due diligence.

He added that 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.”

The opposition party said it equally troubling is the incomplete nature of the announcement itself.

It added that 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,” the party said.

End.