India and a handful of other countries are balking at Nigeria’s latest batch of ambassadors, citing an unwritten rule: they won’t take envoys from a government with fewer than two years left on the clock.
Career diplomat Ambassador Muhammad Dahiru—tapped for New Delhi—has already been told, informally, that India is unlikely to grant its *agrément*. Senior Presidency and Foreign Affairs officials said on Tuesday that Indian policy treats late-term appointments as short-lived and therefore not worth the protocol hassle.
The two-year hurdle
The hitch first surfaced after President Bola Tinubu approved 65 envoys on 6 March. With the next presidential vote set for 16 January 2027, several capitals reckon the envoys could be recalled by an incoming administration within months.
“They simply don’t accept an ambassador from a government that has less than two years to run,” a Presidency source said, asking not to be named. “The view is that the Tinubu administration is on its way out and the next leader might sweep the slate clean.”
India is the only country known to have a firm internal guideline, but Western and some Asian missions follow similar customs when deciding whether to accept a new head of mission.
Big names stuck in limbo
Besides Dahiru, dozens of political heavyweights are waiting for host-country clearance:
– Femi Fani-Kayode – Germany
– Reno Omokri – Mexico
– Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazzau (rtd) – China
– Senator Jimoh Ibrahim – Permanent Representative to the United Nations
So far only two designees have secured *agrément*: Aminu Dalhatu for the United Kingdom and Ayodele Oke for France. The remaining 63 ambassadors are in diplomatic no-man’s-land.
Former Singapore envoy Ogbole Amedu-Ode calls it a practical decision. “Why roll out the red carpet for letters of credence when the sending president has barely a year before election season?” he said. “Receiving states don’t want to process fresh credentials that could be obsolete in twelve months.”
