President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reportedly extended the stay of envoys and career and non-career ambassadors by three months.

However, it was gathered that 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.

An ambassador, who craved anonymity, told Vanguard on Tuesday that the AIEs had been released but noted that there was no cash-backing, hence the extension of their stay till January 2024.

The ambassador said he feared that the three-month extension might not be adequate to complete the process of recalling and replacing ambassadors, which he said takes about six to eight months.

He, however, warned that poor handling of the policy could cause Nigeria avoidable international ridicule and embarrassment.

He said: “Following the Vanguard report, the AIEs for the passages have been sent out, but the cash backing has not been processed due to the current cash crunch facing the country. Most missions are in a serious financial mess.

“The last overhead meant for the last semester of the year, July to December, has not been sent out. Traditionally, it is received by the end of June every year. With the current exchange rate and naira depreciation, there is a serious shortfall in allocation to missions.”

He 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.

Consequence

The ambassador stated that 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.

According to the ambassador, the implication is that if President Tinubu wants to go to another country, it will be difficult to make an appointment.

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.”

Solution

Lamenting that the Federal Government has not released allocations to the missions since June, the ambassador said the way out is for the government to follow due process.

He said: “As every country does, the way out is to put forward your nominees, security agencies will screen them, and they go to the Senate for confirmation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send letters of agreement to the countries they are being posted and ask, ‘Do you agree?’

‘’The other countries will start their own investigations. Sometimes agreement takes between six to eight months. The least is two months for African countries because they will ask their security agencies to carry out thorough screening as ambassadors enjoy immunity.