Tinubu, NASS decry absence of envoys in foreign missions

The Coalition of Civil Society Groups on Transparency and Accountability have decried the absence of envoys in no fewer than 109 foreign missions.

Convener of the group, Comrade Igwe Ude-umanta, in a statement made available to The Guardian on Wednesday in Abuja, called on President Bola Tinubu to fill the vacant slots in the interest of the country.

The coalition argued that as it stands, Nigeria cannot undertake any serious bilateral engagement because top government officials do not grant audience to officials less than the status of an ambassador.

The coalition argued that the strange and abrupt recall of career and non-career Nigerian ambassadors from all over the world in September 2023 deserves a critical attention from President Tinubu and the National Assembly.

They 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.

The group stressed that in the absence of resources to mobilise new ambassadors, the right thing to do is to allow the recalled ones return to their duty posts since it will not require extra costs, pending when the government has enough funds for a seamless change of guard.

The group pointed accusing fingers at the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Ibrahim Adamu Lamuwa, for not doing enough to address the problem.

They alleged: “It is obvious that the Minister and the now suspended Permanent Secretary prefer the Foreign Missions not having Ambassadors. As embarrassing and costly as it is, it serves some personal interests for them as they will be servicing those missions directly.

“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 a period of 9 months.

“In Nigeria specifically, this is the first time it is happening. And in doing so, all laid down rules were jettisoned.

“For the records, the recall of an Ambassador is guided by very strict procedures that allow them put things in place; including the mission, themselves and family. But in this case, that rule was deliberately abandoned.

“It took a listening President Tinubu to grant the appeal of those diplomats in relation to the rule before they were granted the necessary extension denied them by the grand plot of Ambassadors Tuggar and Lamuwa.”

They also noted that it is incumbent on President Tinubu to as a matter of urgency clear the alleged mess by sacking Tuggar and Lamuwa, Minister and Permanent Secretary respectively of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.