Group decries absence of envoys in foreign missions

The Coalition of Civil Society Groups on Transparency and Accountability has decried the absence of envoys in no fewer than 109 foreign missions. Convener of the group, Igwe Ude-Umanta, in a statement made available to The Guardian, yesterday, in Abuja, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to fill the vacant slots in the interest of the country.

The coalition said Nigeria could not undertake any serious bilateral engagement because top foreign government officials do not grant audience to officials less than the status of an ambassador. The group said the strange and abrupt recall of career and non-career Nigerian ambassadors from all over the world in September 2023 deserves critical attention from Tinubu and the National Assembly.

It noted that it is unfortunate that the ambassadors were recalled without any arrangements by the Foreign Affairs Ministry to replace them under the pretext of lack of monies to mobilise new ambassadors. It, however, accused the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar and the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Ibrahim Adamu Lamuwa, of not doing enough to address the problem.

“How on earth did the ministry come up with the idea of advising the President to recall all the Ambassadors if they are patriotic or altruistic? It has never happened in the history of the world that a country is without Ambassadors all over the world, and for nine months. In Nigeria specifically, this is the first time it is happening. And in doing so, all laid-down rules were jettisoned,” the statement stated.