India Rejects Tinubu's Ambassador Over Government Tenure Policy
- President Bola Tinubu's ambassadors-designate, who were recently posted to various countries, were reportedly rejected
- India was said to have rejected career diplomat Ambassador Muhammad Dahiru over a policy regarding administrations with less than two years left in office
- Sources within the presidency disclosed that several other countries showed signs that the newly posted ambassadors could be rejected
India and some other countries yet to be mentioned have reportedly declined to accept some ambassadors-designate recently deployed by President Bola Tinubu.
The reason for the rejection centred on diplomatic policies which discourage receiving envoys from a government with less than two years remaining in office.
Source: Facebook
High-ranking officials within the presidency and the foreign service disclosed that India, where career diplomat Ambassador Muhammad Dahiru was posted, maintained a standing policy of rejecting ambassadors from governments whose tenure would end in less than two years.
Why India rejected Nigeria's ambassador
The Punch reported that the Asian country relied on its discretionary power to turn down the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to accept the posting of Dahiru.
This confirmed the earlier report by the same newspaper, where sources disclosed that there was tension that the ambassadors-designate appointed by President Tinubu could be rejected by the host countries, because of time constraints.
Three sources familiar with the development confirmed the situation on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the diplomatic engagement. They stated that the federal government was already receiving signals from New Delhi and other countries showing reluctance in granting agreemént.
The agreemént refers to the formal approval of the receiving country, which is given after the acceptance of the designated ambassador, and it remains a prerequisite before the ambassador can resume duty.
President Tinubu deploys ambassadors
Last week, President Tinubu finally posted the 31 career and 34 non-career ambassadors earlier screened by the National Assembly to different countries and the United Nations. Recall that the ambassadors-designate were screened in December 2025.
The development came after the president spent over two years in office, following several criticisms over his failure to appoint Nigerian representatives to many countries. The president had previously faced backlash and criticism over the delay in appointing diplomats to represent the country.
The situation became tense when US president Donald Trump accused Nigeria of failure to protect Christians. Trump alleged that Christians were being persecuted in the country and threatened action should the government fail in its responsibility.
While the Tinubu government was able to turn the situation to Nigeria's advantage by building a strong military relationship with the US, the vacuum created by the lack of diplomats remained obvious.
Source: Twitter
See the full list of the ambassadors and the countries they are posted to on X here:
Tinubu's minister speaks on Governor Lawal's defection
Leggit.ng earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu's Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, welcomed the defection of Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara state from the PDP to the APC.
The minister expressed his readiness to work with the governor in advancing the development of the state and fighting insecurity. ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Matawalle, who was a former governor of the state, said that the development was a reunion with his long-time ally, urging APC members to unite and work for the progress of the party.
Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
