No fewer than 20 directors
of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MFA) have petitioned
President Muhammadu Buhari
and Senate President, Dr.
Bukola Saraki over the 47-
man list drawn up by a
committee led by a former
Foreign Affairs Minister,
Ambassador Babagana
Kingibe. The list was recently
submitted to the Senate by
Mr. Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff
to the President.
The petitioners, who accuse
Kingibe and Kyari of
indifference to due process,
marked by disregard for the
Federal Character principle
and seniority, are calling on
the Senate to withhold its
confirmation of the names on
the list.
The petitioners identified
lopsidedness in the selection
exercise, pointing out that
states like Bayelsa, Ebonyi,
Plateau, Ondo and Sokoto
were completely ignored,
while others got more than
are due to them.
Borno State, for instance,
has three nominees, while
Adamawa, Bauchi, Kano and
Katsina has two each.
On account of this alone,
said the petitioners,
confirming the nominees
would be injurious to the
country's unity and national
cohesion.
Another aberration identified
by the petitioners was the
selection of 10 out of 47
nominees from National
Intelligence Agency (NIA).
This, they argued, is against
the rules establishing the
NIA as a separate entity
from Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and a flagrant
violation of the Vienna
Convention on Diplomatic
Relations of 1961. The
petitioners contended,
clearly that the Vienna
Convention stipulates the
character and nature of
people eligible for
appointment as principal
representatives abroad and
heads of diplomatic missions.
Also, they accused the
ambassadorial nomination of
wanton disregard of
seniority in the foreign/
diplomatic service. They
alleged that nominees from
Adamawa, Benue, Borno,
Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi and
Lagos states were junior
officers, who have been
elevated above more
qualified and experienced
colleagues.
This, in itself, is at variance
with the guidelines for
ambassadorial nominations
and existing practice in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Investigations by
SaharaReporters revealed
that the aggrieved officers
had attempted to draw the
attention of the appointment
committee to the anomalies
before their decision to write
a petition.
A delegation led by
Ambassador Bulus Lolo,
Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
met with Mr. Kyari in the hope
of drawing his attention to
the flaws in the process and
get him to correct them.
SaharaReporters learnt the
petitioners requested that
due process is followed to
prevent a dampening of
morale and avoid disharmony
at the ministry's
headquarters and in more
than 100 embassies and
consulates abroad.
However, Kyari rejected
their suggestions and went
ahead to submit the list
drawn up by the Kingibe-led
committee to the Senate
President without clearing
with Professor Yemi
Osinbajo, who was the acting
President at the time.
One of the disaffected
directors told this medium on
condition of anonymity that
the meeting with Kyari was a
wasteful exercise, as the
Chief of Staff to the
President was an interested
party.
"We shouldn't have wasted
our time going to his office
for a meeting. Do you know
that the only reason Borno
State got three nominees,
the highest number, was
because both Kyari and
Kingibe are from that state?
Is this not nepotism? This is
corruption by other means,
and I think President Buhari
is wasting his time fighting
corruption outside of the
Presidential Villa when
corruption is being
perpetrated right under his
very nose. We call on our
distinguished Senators to
ensure that justice is not
only done but also be seen
to be done.
They should reject the
submitted list and call for
fresh nominations in line with
Federal Character Principles
and based on the seniority
of all qualified officers
according to existing
regulations," the director
said.
Our source also disclosed
that Borno State may end up
with four ambassadors at the
end of the process, as
Kingibe has positioned as the
political nominee from the
state.
"Being former Foreign Affairs
Minister himself, he is
scheming to be appointed as
Nigeria's Ambassador/
Permanent Representative to
the United Nations just as
late General Joe Garba,
Professors Ibrahim Gambari,
and Joy Ugwu were
appointed," he added.