The Nigerian
government, on Tuesday, December 31, disengaged a total of 25 ambassadors and
heads of foreign mission.
Ferdinand
Nwonye, a spokesperson of the foreign affairs ministry, confirming this said that
the affected ambassadors and heads of mission had earlier been informed of the
plan to disengage them at the end of 2019, even though they had insisted that
the sack was sudden.
The ambassadors had complained that the letter
of disengagement sent to them by the foreign affairs minister, Geoffrey
Onyeama, in November 2019, did not give them time to complete diplomatic
activities and prepare for their return to Nigeria.
Onyeama, had reminded the affected officials
that they were supposed to have left their positions since 2018, but that their
tenures were extended by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The report
quoted Nwoye as earlier saying the demand by the ambassadors that they should
be given time to pay farewell visits to the presidents of their host countries
and carry out other last-minute functions was selfish.
The
ministry’s spokesperson was quoted as saying a telegram was sent to the
ambassadors asking that they hand over to the most senior officers in their
respective embassies and missions. “They should have been disengaged by now.
When officers, including ambassadors are recalled, they have to leave. They can
decide from there to go elsewhere.
