Ambassadors: Vetting on Final Stage as Presidency Sets to Appoint Special Presidential Envoys

The presidency is currently putting finishing touch on the process of appointing ambassadors to the country’s foreign missions in major countries.

This is coming as presidential sources revealed that President Bola Tinubu will in the coming weeks, either appoint the ambassadors or name special presidential envoys to some key strategic countries.

The move comes amid growing public concern that the prolonged absence of substantive envoys has weakened the country’s diplomatic presence abroad, particularly in key strategic countries like the United States amid the alleged Christian genocide row.

Tinubu had in September 2023 recalled all envoys from Nigeria’s missions in 76 embassies, 22 high commissions, and 11 consulates across the world to reassess the country’s foreign policy.

However, the process of appointing new ambassadors has suffered multiple delays more than two years into the current administration.

In the absence of substantive envoys, the missions have since been overseen by chargés d’affaires or senior consular officers.

In April 2025, sources close to the President told our correspondent that the Federal Government had concluded the vetting of persons nominated to fill the ambassadorial roles, including security and background checks by the relevant agencies.

Tinubu had previously blamed the delay on the complex political considerations involved in making such appointments.

“I couldn’t appoint everybody at once and thank you for your patience. I still have some slots for ambassadorial positions that so many people are craving for. But it’s not easy stitching those names,” he said in September while receiving members of The Buhari Organisation at the Presidential Villa.

Last week, multiple presidency officials said the President had ordered a “final cleanup” of the list ahead of its release.

One of the officials explained that since the President sent the list to the Senate, some people on the list had died, while some were no longer eligible for appointment due to retirement.

The official said the need for cleanup prompted the Upper Chamber to return the envoy list to the presidency.

Speaking in separate interviews with Sunday PUNCH, top aides privy to the process confirmed that the cleanup was in its final stage and that only envoys for major countries would be appointed.

“The final process is almost completed. The President is committed to making the appointments, and the announcement will come in the next few weeks. I wouldn’t want to specify two. However, only ambassadors to major countries will be appointed,” a source said.

Another senior presidency source said the list would be released before the end of November.

But he declined to give the specific date of the release.

“The President has said they should clean up the list. I’m sure before the end of the month, it should be ready. There’s no point speculating. When it is ready, it will be officially announced,” the official said.

Allocations without envoys

It was gathered that part of the delay in the appointments was linked to the paucity of funds, estimated at $1bn, needed to pay foreign service officials’ arrears, clear backlog of overheads, replace ageing vehicles and renovate embassy buildings.

Earlier in the year, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, also confirmed the funding constraints, warning that posting envoys without adequate operational resources would be counterproductive.

To address the funding gap, the Federal Government earmarked N2.1bn in the 2025 budget for the posting and return entitlements of ambassadors and officers.

Another N53bn was proposed for the renovation of 103 foreign missions, covering chanceries, staff quarters, ambassadors’ residences, office furniture and official vehicles.

The proposed allocations included N554m for Abidjan, N812m for Banjul, N555m for Brazzaville, N558m for Port of Spain, N576m for Caracas, N624m for Kingston, N567m for Libreville, N409m for Buenos Aires and N899m for Niamey, among others.

A letter, dated July 3, 2025, from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, also revealed that the Tinubu administration released a total of $54m to support the operations of the country’s 103 embassies and high commissions.

According to the document, $46.14m was allocated for overhead costs, $9.58m for personnel costs, and $282,829 for other expenses.

However, with the year running out and no substantive ambassadors appointed, there are growing public concerns over what will become of the budgeted allocations for the missions still operating without confirmed envoys.

In October, the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs summoned Tuggar, and Heads of Missions to appear before it over the utilisation of funds appropriated to Nigeria’s foreign missions in 2025.

The committee, in a letter dated July 24, 2025, and signed by its Chairman, Oluwole Oke, invoked Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to demand detailed records on how the funds were spent by the various missions.

The Oke-led committee had earlier in the year begun probing a contract scandal involving the alleged mismanagement of $2m earmarked for the renovation of Nigeria’s Permanent Representative’s residence at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

(Culled from Sunday PUNCH)