Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu for failing to appoint ambassadors nearly two years after assuming office.
Akinyemi described the situation as “unusual” and said the president owes Nigerians a clear explanation.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Thursday, the former minister said the absence of ambassadors undermines Nigeria’s foreign relations and sends the wrong signal to other nations.
“I think the President owes us really an explanation. There must be something there, and that makes it difficult for me to explain. Well, it’s not my job to explain. It’s the job of the foreign minister to explain why we don’t have ambassadors after two years of this administration,” he said.
Akinyemi dismissed claims that the delay might be due to financial constraints, noting that government revenues have increased significantly under Tinubu’s administration.
“It cannot be due to lack of money, because since this government came on board, you could see how revenue has increased, and what they’ve done with the revenue is to increase money going to the states, increase money going to the National Assembly. Surely, part of this increase in revenue would have been made available to have ambassadors in different countries,” he added.
Nigeria has been operating without substantive ambassadors since Tinubu recalled all envoys in September 2023, a move the presidency said was part of a restructuring of the country’s diplomatic missions.
