The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, has said the paucity of funds is responsible for the delay in appointing ambassadors for Nigeria.
The minister who disclosed this during the ministerial sectoral briefing on Tuesday in Abuja, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration was facing a significant financial and economic challenge.
President Tinubu had on September 2, 2023, recalled all career and non-career ambassadors operating the country’s diplomatic missions, embassies and consulates globally.
Nigeria has 109 missions, 76 embassies, 22 high commissions and 11 consulates globally.
The lack of ambassadors has raised concerns about Nigeria’s diplomatic representation and the effectiveness of its foreign missions.
However, the Minister said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not been receiving the necessary funding to operate effectively.
He noted that it was pointless to appoint ambassadors without the financial resources to support their travel and the effective running of missions abroad.
“We met a situation where Foreign Affairs was not being funded like the way it should be. It is a money problem. 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,” he said.
Despite these hurdles, Tuggar assured that the government was addressing the issue.
“Mr. President is working on it and it will be done in due course,” he said.
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