It will be recalled that on September 2, President Bola Tinubu recalled all Nigeria’s ambassadors, both career and non-career. They were asked to return to the country on or before October 31. Nigeria has no fewer than 300 foreign missions.
The envoys were stranded as the Federal Government was foot-dragging on implementation and had not released AIEs (Authority to Incur Expenditures) for their passages to them.
The AIE explains the details of the entitlement of each envoy in terms of their passages and other travel arrangements to return to Nigeria.
the AIEs had been released but noted that there was no cash-backing, hence the extension of their stay till January 2024.
Some ambassadors feared that the three-month extension might not be adequate to complete the process of recalling and replacing ambassadors, which they said takes about six to eight months.
Ambassador said due to the initial challenges of every new government in settling down, the President Tinubu Administration has not had sufficient time to carry out necessary consultations for the appointment of replacements for the outgoing ambassadors.
He said “The consequence is that if the envoys take their leave, by November 1, all the Nigerian missions will be without heads for a long time because it takes quite some time to nominate, vet, screen, confirm and receive bilateral agreement from host countries before envoys assume duties at their respective posts.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has written an advisory to Mr. President, pointing out the consequences and seeking a three-month extension to enable some housekeeping to be done for the recalled envoys.”
