According to official records from the US Department of State, there are now no US ambassadors in Nigeria or 116 other nations. This is part of a larger diplomatic deficit that is affecting countries in many parts of the world.
The Office of Presidential Appointments published the document on April 8, 2026, on the US Department of State’s website. It was called “Ambassadorial Assignments Overseas” and said that Nigeria is one of 117 countries that still doesn’t have a US ambassador confirmed by the Senate.
The PUNCH said that our correspondent got the document yesterday.
The countries that were affected are in Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania.
There are job openings in Africa in Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Togo.
Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Russia, Serbia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Ukraine are all on the list.
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Iraq, the Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam are all affected in Asia and the Middle East.
In the Americas, there are open positions in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
In Oceania, on the other hand, Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu are all without confirmed US ambassadors.
This transition came after earlier changes in diplomacy that were announced in December 2025. At that time, President Donald Trump’s administration recalled about 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and senior embassy positions around the world.
The Guardian, citing AP, said that the move affected mission leaders in at least 29 nations, 15 of which are in Africa.
The recalls were part of the administration’s efforts to change the way the US is represented diplomatically to better match its foreign policy goals.
Normally, these kinds of diplomats serve at the president’s pleasure, but the large-scale withdrawals made people worry about holes in the US’s diplomatic representation around the world.
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