ADC Chides Tinubu On Ambassadors Postings …Says It Contravenes Vienna Convention

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the Tinubu administration’s announcement of ambassadorial postings, calling it a diplomatic blunder and evidence of the government’s well-known incompetence.

In a statement by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, the party stated that publicly announcing the postings before obtaining the required agrément from host countries, as mandated by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, risks exposing Nigeria to diplomatic embarrassment.

ADC also questioned why only 65 ambassadors were announced for Nigeria’s roughly 109 diplomatic missions, while the government remains silent about the other 44 missions without envoys.

The party said: “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 agrément, of the receiving state before officially appointing or announcing a head of mission.

Requests for agrément are a foundational principle of international diplomacy and are normally done through diplomatic channels.