President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded a new list of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, just days after submitting an initial batch of three names.
In two separate letters to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the president urged lawmakers to expedite the screening and approval of 15 career ambassadors and 17 non-career ambassadors.
The latest list was released on Saturday in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
According to the breakdown, four women are among the career ambassadorial nominees, while six were nominated as non-career ambassadors.
Prominent names in the non-career category include Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu from Abia; former presidential aide, Reno Omokri (Delta); former INEC Chairman, Mahmud Yakubu; former Ekiti First Lady, Erelu Angela Adebayo; and former Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
Also nominated are Tasiu Musa Maigari, former Speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly; Yakubu N. Gambo, a former Plateau State Commissioner; and a former deputy executive secretary of UBEC.
Other nominees include Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, a former senator from Plateau; Otunba Femi Pedro, a former Lagos deputy governor; former aviation minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode; and Barrister Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu from Anambra.
Former Oyo First Lady, Fatima Florence Ajimobi; former Lagos Commissioner, Lola Akande; former Adamawa Senator, Grace Bent; former Abia Governor, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu; and Senator Jimoh Ibrahim from Ondo State are also on the list. Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu from Benue State, who once served as Nigeria’s envoy to the Holy See, was similarly nominated.
The career ambassadorial and high commissioner-designate 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).
The new nominees are expected to be posted to countries with which Nigeria maintains strong strategic relations, including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the UAE, Qatar, South Africa, and Kenya, as well as to permanent missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union. Their specific postings will be determined after Senate confirmation.
Last week, President Tinubu sent three nominees—Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun)—for screening. They are being considered for postings to the UK, USA, or France.
President Tinubu noted that additional ambassadorial nominees will be announced soon.
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