Tinubu Approves Posting of 65 New Ambassadors, High Commissioners

*Directs foreign affairs ministry to commence induction course for new envoys *Deji Elumoye and Chuks Okocha in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has approved the postings of 31 career and 34 non-career ambassadors to various countries and the United Nations.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the Tinubu administration’s announcement of ambassadorial postings, describing it as a diplomatic blunder and a confirmation of the government’s storied incompetence.
The Senate had in December, 2025 confirmed the ambassadors-designate after the President submitted the names to the Red Chamber for screening and confirmation.

The non-career ambassadors-designate and their countries of posting include Senator Grace Bent: Lome-Togo; Senator Ita Enang – South Africa; Ikpeazu Victor – Spain; Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu – Tel-Aviv, Israel; Mahmud Yakubu -Qatar; Paul Oga Adikwu -The Vatican Holy See; Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas – The Philippines; Mr. Reno Omokri -Mexico; Hon. Abasi Braimah – Budapest, Hungary; Mrs. Erelu Angela Adebayo -Portugal; Olumilua Oluwayimika Ayotunwa – Tokyo, Japan, and Rt. Hon. Ugwuanyi Ifeanyi Lawrence – Greece.

Others are Chioma Priscilla Ohakim – Poland; Aminu Dalhatu -United Kingdom; Lt.  General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau – China; Hon. Tasiu Musa Maigari – Gambia; Olufemi Pedro – Australia; Muhammed Ubandoma Aliyu – Argentina, and Lateef Kayode Are – USA.

The approval also included Amb. Joseph Sola Iji – Russia; Senator Jimoh Ibrahim – UN Permanent Representative; Femi Fani-Kayode- Germany; Prof. Isaak Folorunsho Adewole – Canada; Ajimobi Fatima Florence -Austria; Mrs Lola Akande – Sweden; Ayodele Oke – France; Yakubu N. Gambo- Saudi Arabia; Senator Nora Ladi Daduut – South Korea; Onueze Chukwujika Joe Okocha SAN – Ireland; Dr. Kulu Haruna Abubakar – Tunisia and Rt. Hon. Jerry Samuel Manwe: Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

The career Ambassadors-designate and their postings are Nwabiola Ezenwa Chukwumeka – Cote D’Ivoire; Besto Maimuna Ibrahim – Niamey-Niger; Monica Okwuchukwu Enebechi – Sao Tome, STP; Mohammed Mahmud Lele -Algeria; Endoni Syndoph Paebi – Burkina Faso; Ahmed Mohammed Monguno – Egypt; Jane Adams (Nee Okon) Micheal -Kingston-Jamaica; Clark-Omeru Alexandria- Zambia; Chima Geoggrey Lioma David – Bamako-Mali; Odumah Yvonne Ehinosen Equatorial Guinea; Wasa Segun Ige -Lebanon; Ruben Abimbola Samuel – Rome, Italy; Onaga Ogechukwu Kingsley – Mozambique; Magaji Umar- DR Congo; Muhammad Saidu Dahiru -India; Abdussalam Habu Zayyad – Senegal; Shehu Ilu Barde – Ghana; Aminu Nasir –  Ethiopia; Abubakar Musa Musa -Chad; Haidara Mohammed Idris – Netherlands; Bako Adamu Umar – Morocco; Sulu Gambari Olatunji Ahmed -Malaysia; Romata Mohammed Omobolanle

-Tanzania; Shaga John Shamah -Botswana; Salau Hamza Mohammed – Iran; Ibrahim Danlami – Kenya; Ibrahim Adeola Mopelola – Benin; Ayeni Adebayo Emmanuel – Belgium; Akande Wahab Adekola – Switzerland; Arewa (Nee Adedokun) Esther – Namibia; Gergadi Joseph John – Libreville-Gabon; Luther Ogbomode Ayo-Kalata – Sierra Leone; Danladi Yakubu Nyaku – Sudan and Bello Dogon-Daji Haliru –  Thailand.

According to a statement issued yesterday by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already received agreement from the United Kingdom for the High Commissioner-designate, Ambassador Aminu Dalhatu. Similarly, France has sent the agreement for Ambassador Ayo Oke.
The ministry has also conveyed the nominations of the other 62 designated envoys to all the countries concerned, including a request for their agreements in line with standard diplomatic practice.
The President has directed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should immediately commence the induction programme for the ambassadors-designate and High Commissioners.

Meanwhile, in a statement by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, the party said that publicly announcing the postings before securing the required agreement from host countries, as stipulated under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, exposes Nigeria to diplomatic embarrassment.
ADC also 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.

According to Abdullahi, ”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 agreement, of the receiving state before officially appointing or announcing a head of mission. Requests for agreement 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 agreement. This absurdity becomes even more apparent when one considers that the receiving country reserves the right to accept or reject a nomination after conducting its due diligence. 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.

”Equally troubling is the incomplete nature of the announcement itself. 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 ADC spokesman stated.ADC: Posting another blunder, evidence of incompetence