# List of high commissioners of Australia to Nigeria

The high commissioner of Australia to Nigeria is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the High Commission of the Commonwealth of Australia in Abuja, Nigeria. The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and is currently vacant, with the head of mission being Jonathan Ball as acting high commissioner and Chargé d’Affaires since July 2022. The ambassador also holds non-resident accreditation as high commissioner to The Gambia (1985–2004, since 2008), and Gabon (1988–1989; since 2010), and as ambassador to Benin (since 2010), Cameroon (since 2002), and Niger (since 2009), and as representative to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Non-resident accreditation was also previously held for Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, and Sierra Leone from 1985 to 2004, Chad (2007–2010), and the Republic of the Congo (2009–2015). The high commissioner also has responsibility for the honorary consulates of Australia in Lagos (since 2012) and Yaoundé (since 2014).

## Posting history

Immediately prior to the independence of Nigeria on 1 October 1960, Australia established a diplomatic mission in Lagos on 10 September 1960, with Lionel Phillips as acting commissioner, and then acting high commissioner from 1 October. On 8 November 1960, Robert Furlonger was appointed as the first Australian high commissioner to the Federation of Nigeria, who took up his appointment from 1 February 1961.

## High commissioners

| # | Officeholder | Other offices | Term start date | Term end date | Time in office |
| − | Lionel Phillips (Acting) | n/a | 10 September 1960 (1960-09-10) | 1 February 1961 (1961-02-01) | 144 days |
| 1 | Robert Furlonger | n/a | 1 February 1961 (1961-02-01) | 23 April 1961 (1961-04-23) | 81 days |
| − | Thomas Venables Holland (Acting) | n/a | 25 April 1961 (1961-04-25) | 5 October 1961 (1961-10-05) | 163 days |
| 2 | Alan Renouf | n/a | 5 October 1961 (1961-10-05) | 17 March 1963 (1963-03-17) | 1 year, 163 days |
| − | Lionel Phillips (Acting) | n/a | 22 March 1963 (1963-03-22) | August 1965 (1965-08) | 2 years, 4 months |
| 3 | James Cumes | n/a | August 1965 (1965-08) | December 1967 (1967-12) | 2 years, 4 months |
| 4 | H. D. White | n/a | December 1967 (1967-12) | June 1970 (1970-06) | 2 years, 6 months |
| 5 | Pierre Hutton | n/a | June 1970 (1970-06) | June 1973 (1973-06) | 3 years |
| 6 | W. H. Bray | n/a | June 1973 (1973-06) | June 1976 (1976-06) | 3 years |
| 7 | W. Kevin Flanagan | n/a | June 1976 (1976-06) | November 1979 (1979-11) | 3 years, 5 months |
| 8 | Charles Mott | n/a | November 1979 (1979-11) | March 1983 (1983-03) | 3 years, 4 months |
| 9 | Allan Taylor | | March 1983 (1983-03) | June 1986 (1986-06) | 3 years, 3 months |
| 10 | Hugh Wyndham | | 11 June 1986 (1986-06-11) | June 1989 (1989-06) | 2 years, 11 months |
| 11 | Oliver Cordell | | 20 June 1989 (1989-06-20) | April 1993 (1993-04) | 3 years, 9 months |
| 12 | Howard Brown | | April 1993 (1993-04) | September 1997 (1997-09) | 4 years, 5 months |
| 13 | Matthew Neuhaus | | October 1997 (1997-10) | January 2001 (2001-01) | 3 years, 3 months |
| 14 | Bob Whitty | | January 2001 (2001-01) | February 2004 (2004-02) | 3 years, 1 month |
| 15 | Iain Dicke | | February 2004 (2004-02) | February 2007 (2007-02) | 3 years |
| 16 | Jeffrey Hart | | February 2007 (2007-02) | February 2010 (2010-02) | 3 years |
| 17 | Ian McConville | | July 2010 (2010-07) | December 2012 (2012-12) | 2 years, 5 months |
| 18 | Jon Richardson | | January 2013 (2013-01) | December 2015 (2015-12) | 2 years, 11 months |
| 19 | Paul Lehmann | | December 2015 (2015-12) | June 2019 (2019-06) | 3 years, 6 months |
| 20 | Claire Ireland | | June 2019 (2019-06) | January 2021 (2021-01) | 1 year, 7 months |
| 21 | John Donnelly | | January 2021 (2021-01) | July 2022 (2022-07) | 1 year, 6 months |
| − | Jonathan Ball (acting) | | July 2022 (2022-07) | Incumbent | 2 years, 8 months |