Action Congress (AC) has described as a monumental embarrassment the diplomatic tangle between former President Ibrahim Babangida and Foreign Affairs Minister, Ojo Maduekwe, over the coup in Guinea.

In a statement in Abuja on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, AC wondered who among the two was speaking for Nigeria over the country's position on the grab of power in Guinea by the country's military.

It recalled that Maduekwe took a justifiable tough stance against the Guinean soldiers, reminding them that unconstitutional takeover of power was against the Constitutive Act of the Africa Union and the ECOWAS Charter, hence they should organise elections and get out of town.

AC said on the other hand, Babangida, a Special Envoy of President Umaru Yar'Adua, was virtually hailing the soldiers and describing them as patriots after visiting Conakry to meet with them, with the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, in tow.

"This is a diplomatic faux pas! The whole world must be having a good laugh, especially coming at a time that President Yar'Adua is holding the rotational chairmanship of the ECOWAS.

"Following the footsteps of the AU, the ECOWAS has commendably suspended Guinea's membership. The suspension came during an extra-ordinary summit presided over by President Yar'Adua, whose Special Envoy had turned himself to a spokesman for the Guinean junta!

"Of course, the decision of ECOWAS, under President Yar'Adua, to suspend Guinea, is ordinarily a repudiation of Babangida's stand. But it is not that easy. The spat has weakened Nigeria's tough position and showed there is a disconnect somewhere," the party said.

It said the lesson from the debacle is for the Federal Government to be more discerning in picking special envoys for such sensitive assignments as the one under discussion.