President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is alleged to be under pressure to release the list of ambassadorial nominees as lobbying for juicy countries and the need for national spread are delaying the exercise 15 months after the President recalled those appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Though the Presidency said only the Foreign Affairs Minister could comment on the issue, Nigeria’s former Consul-General to Atlanta Georgia, Amb Joe Keshi, urged the President to expedite action on the list, because “it is not in Nigeria’s national interest to run without substantive ambassadors.”

Also, a diplomat who did not want his name in print because he was not authorized to do so said that the list was ready but its release was delayed by political considerations and lobbying for major postings such as High Commissioner to Britain, Netherlands, UN and France.He said: “The President has come under intense pressure to announce the names of ambassadors for the country, particularly the High Commissioner to Britain, Netherlands, United States of America and France among others. We understand the lobbying for postings to these places described as major postings have been the cause of the delay. The posting of ambassadors is very critical.”

On his part, Amb Joe Keshi blamed the delay on the political class, who he said, displays entitlement mentality in appointments such as Ambassadors and High Commissioners as well as head other missions, even at the expense of career diplomats.

Also, the Source quoted earlier said that some of the people who directly or indirectly contributed to the President’s election who believed that they needed to be appreciated one way or the other are also waiting in the wings. They are some of them who have made requests to become ambassadors.

Keshi added that the initial plan was to appoint career diplomats of 30-35 years in foreign service as Ambassadors and High Commissioners, but the political class is uncomfortable with that “because they want to top the list, they want to go out or determine who goes out” hence the delay, at the expense of the national interest.

The Source continued: “What is happening is who goes to where. Some ambassadorial postings are major – like the High Commissioner to the Court of Saint James, that is Nigeria’s High Commissioner to London, Nigerian Ambassador to the United Nations, Nigerian Ambassador to France, Nigerian Ambassador to the Netherlands. They are already jostling for nomination from those people. There is a lot of pressure being brought to bear on Mr. President.”

Sunday Telegraph learnt that one of them, a former governor from the South West is also one of those who believe that the thing has taken too much time and he is one of those saying that if they do not get what they want, they may quickly link up with the emerging party they are trying to raise for 2027.

“It is not a good thing that Nigeria is without ambassadors at this time. The Niger Republic is accusing Nigeria of hobnobbing with France to destabilize Niger. It also shows that it is a thing Nigeria cannot afford,” another Source explained.

“If an ambassador is there, it is possible that the ambassador would explain Nigeria’s position or role to the government of Niger. That is one of the disadvantages Nigeria has to deal with now.

“The issue of who goes where is what is delaying the posting. Also, there is the need for national spread and balancing. People are worried that for almost two years, you recalled ambassadors and you did not name a replacement for them. It is actually one of the drawbacks of this administration.”

However, beyond this, Sunday Telegraph gathered that the issue of liquidity may have delayed the posting.

Before the immediate past ambassadors were recalled in September 2023, most of the foreign missions, especially those in rented apartments were reeling under debts. “There was no fund to run the embassies,” said a source. The debt runs into $1bn.

On taking office, President Bola Tinubu reassessed Nigeria’s foreign policy and initiated a recall of 83 ambassadors in September 2023. However, the process of appointing new envoys has faced delays due to financial shortfalls.

The Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tuggar confirmed this, citing insufficient funding for essential embassy operations and ambassadorial support.

“There is no point sending out ambassadors if you do not have the funds for them to even travel to their designated country and to run the missions effectively, one needs funding.

“Mr President is working on it, and it will be done in due course,” Tuggar said during a ministerial briefing in May 2023.

In the 2025 Appropriation Bill, presented to the National Assembly on December 18, 2024 by President Bola Tinubu, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was allocated N66.88bn for capital expenditure and N286.88bn for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure.

In order to find a way round it, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, and the Tuggar are to appear before the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, January 14, over what it described as inadequate funding for the ministry, particularly the funding of the foreign missions, in the 2025 budget proposal.

To appear with the two ministers is the Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu; and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dunoma Ahmed.

Meanwhile, the Presidency has denied the story that the President is under pressure to release the list. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Tope Ajayi, said: “Who told you the list is ready? There have been several comments on the matter here and there. But I don’t know and I don’t want to get myself involved in speculations. When it is released, everybody will see.”

Another Presidential media aide, Tunde Rahman, who responded to inquiries in the matter directed one of reporters to get across to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Malam Yusuf Tuggar for authentic information on the issue.

The Minister did not respond to the text message sent to his line and a text sent to the Minister was not replied.

Keshi called for quick action on the list, stressing the need for Nigeria to maintain its policy of good neighbourliness with African countries, especially Niger, because that diplomacy was missing in the recent face-off between both countries, despite their time-tested cultural affinity.