NIGERIA’S attempt to reassert its presence in the global diplomatic community may be under threat, as only 10 out of over 60 ambassadors and envoys deployed by President Bola Tinubu have been accepted weeks after their nomination.
The countries that have accepted the officials are the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Ireland, Qatar, the Republic of Benin, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
The development was confirmed on Monday by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa.
“Responses from other countries are still being awaited,” the added in a statement.
Before any ambassador can officially resume duty, the receiving country must first agree to accept them, a step known in diplomacy as agrément.
Ebienfa explained that efforts were ongoing to get the remaining countries on board, noting that the next major step would be the formal induction of the officials.
“The date for the induction ceremony will be announced in due course once it is finalised and confirmed by the Presidency,” he said.
The Federal Government had, toward the end of 2025, submitted a list of 65 ambassadorial nominees to the National Assembly. Although they were screened in December, their postings could not be completed until each host country signs off on the appointments.
For nearly three years, many of Nigeria’s foreign missions have operated without substantive ambassadors, relying instead on lower-ranking diplomats to keep them running. That gap had raised concerns in diplomatic circles about Nigeria’s visibility and influence, especially in key partner countries.
THE ICIR reported that Nigeria began to face challenges with the ambassadors’ posting just a few days after Tinubu approved the deployment.
India and a few other countries were reportedly hesitant to accept some of these ambassadors. Their alleged rejection was said to be because the president had less than two years to end his current tenure.
According to reports, officials explained that India followed a diplomatic rule of not accepting ambassadors from governments that are close to the end of their term.