Nigerian Ambassadors and High Commissioners in various Foreign Missions have called out the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Amb. Yusufu Tuggar for inciting junior workers to lock them out of their offices, residences and stop them from using their official cars.
The instruction to lock the diplomats out was contained in a memo signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Adamu I. Lamuwa, and sent to the Charge D’Affairs of the Missions, dated November 3, 2023.
The Envoys stated that the Minister, himself a former Ambassador, ought to know that regulations 9.5(a) of Foreign Service Rules is clear that an officer shall cease to draw foreign service allowances the day he leaves the post especially when his failure to leave on the stipulated period is as a result of the failure of the Ministry to send the officer’s passages.
Recall that the Federal Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had on September 2, announced the recall of the Ambassadors and High Commissioners and gave them up until October 31 to return home.
However, the diplomats made passionate appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for extension of the return date to December 31, to enable their wards take their promotion exams and consequently streamline the academic calendar in order not to truncate their education by dropping a year.
The Ambassadors’ appeal seemed to have received the president’s nod, only for the Foreign Affairs Minister, Tuggar to reject the plea, insisting that the October 31 terminal date remains “sacrosanct”.
But at the expiration of the October 31 deadline up till this date the Envoys were still stranded in their foreign missions as the Ministry has not remitted to the missions the passages of the recalled envoys as contained in the AIE (authority to incur expenses) earlier sent to the Ambassadors and High Commissioners.
The Envoys also cited Regulation 26.3, which states that three months notice should be given to an officer before they are posted abroad or back home to enable the officer to wind up their affairs; and it (Regulation 26.4) shall be time to coincide with the school year to enable the officer arrange the school programme of their children.
Meanwhile, despite the failure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to remit the passages as required by Foreign Service Regulations, the Minister has begun moves to forcefully evict the envoys from their offices and residents in the foreign missions.
The Ministry in the memo directed the Charge D’Affairs to ensure that “the Ambassador’s residence and office are kept clean, well maintained and vacant, and that representational cars are not to be used”.
In the cable/telegram sighted by this reporter, and entitled, “Guidelines on the management of Missions pending the appointment of Ambassadors/High Commissioners,” the Ministry directed that no new project(s) should be embarked upon during the period of transition.
The Ministry instructed that all expenditure on maintenance above US$1,000 or its equivalent should be referred to Headquarters for approval; and that apart from payments of foreign service allowances and utility bills, other expenses/claims not paid as at 31st October 2023 must be forwarded to Headquarters for clearance.
The memo directed that with effect from 1st November 2023, all Estacode yielding trips should be referred to Headquarters for approval.
“Heads of Chancery and Finance Attaches shall be held responsible for any infraction of the aforementioned instructions,” the memo directed.
The envoys, who vowed to resist any attempt by junior officers to embarrass them, expressed concerns over the arm-twisting tactic being adopted by the Ministry.
One of the embattled Envoys, who spoke to this reporter via phone on condition of anonymity, stated that part of the reasons they wrote to the President, with the full consent of the Minister, to extend their return date to December 31, was to enable the Ministry pay their passage allowance in full to avoid this kind of ugly experience.
The envoys appealed to President Tinubu to intervene to safe them the embarrassment and also preserve the image of the country.
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