President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has transmitted a fresh list of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation, just days after submitting an initial batch of three names.
The development was announced in a statement on Saturday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the statement, Tinubu, in two separate letters to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, requested the “expeditious” confirmation of 15 career ambassadorial nominees and 17 non-career nominees.
Onanuga noted that the list includes four women among the career nominees and six among the non-career nominees.
Among the prominent non-career nominees are former Enugu State governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; former presidential aide Reno Omokri; former INEC chairman Mahmud Yakubu; former Ekiti First Lady Erelu Angela Adebayo; and former deputy governor of Lagos State, Otunba Femi Pedro.
Also listed are former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode; ex-Abia governor Victor Okezie Ikpeazu; former Oyo First Lady Florence Ajimobi; former Lagos commissioner Lola Akande; former senator Grace Bent; and former Nigerian envoy to the Holy See, Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu.
Others include Tasiu Musa Maigari, former speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly; Yakubu N. Gambo, a former commissioner in Plateau State; UBEC’s former deputy executive secretary; and Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, a former senator from Plateau.
The career nominees include Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu (Abia), Yakubu Nyaku Danladi (Taraba), Miamuna Ibrahim Besto (Adamawa), Musa Musa Abubakar (Kebbi), Syndoph Paebi Endoni (Bayelsa), Chima Geoffrey Lioma David (Ebonyi), and Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun).
Others are Abimbola Samuel Reuben (Ondo), Yvonne Ehinosen Odumah (Edo), Hamza Mohammed Salau (Niger), Ambassador Shehu Barde (Katsina), Ambassador Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno), Ambassador Muhammad Saidu Dahiru (Kaduna), Ambassador Olatunji Ahmed Sulu Gambari (Kwara), and Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande (Osun).
Tinubu said the nominees will be posted to countries with which Nigeria maintains key diplomatic ties, including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the UAE, Qatar, South Africa, and Kenya. Others will serve in permanent missions such as the UN, UNESCO, and the African Union.
Last week, the President forwarded three ambassadorial nominees—Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun)—who are under consideration for postings to the UK, USA, or France.
Tinubu added that more ambassadorial nominations will be announced soon.
