The United Kingdom has announced the appointment of Mr Peter Vowles as its new High Commissioner to Nigeria.
In a statement released by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office on Monday, the UK confirmed that Vowles will replace Dr Richard Montgomery CMG when he assumes office in September 2026.
According to the announcement, Vowles is currently serving as the British High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, a position he has held since 2023.
The statement also highlighted his extensive diplomatic and development background, noting that his career spans more than two decades across various regions and institutions, including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the former Department for International Development.
“Mr Vowles will take up his appointment during September 2026”.
His previous roles include serving as FCDO Transformation Director from 2022 to 2023, and as Britain’s Ambassador to Myanmar between 2021 and 2022. He also worked as Director for Asia, Caribbean and Overseas Territories at DFID from 2018 to 2021.
Earlier in his career, he held several key positions, including Country Director for DFID in Kenya, Deputy Country Director in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Head of Global Partnerships in India. He also worked in Afghanistan as Governance and Security Team Leader.
The statement further traced his professional journey back to development and health-related roles, including consultancy work with Mott MacDonald, advisory roles with the World Bank in Bangladesh, and service in Zimbabwe’s development sector and education ministry in the early 1990s.
It added that his appointment reflects the UK’s continued diplomatic engagement with Nigeria ahead of his formal assumption of duty.