In a significant diplomatic move, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded a fresh list of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation, barely days after submitting an initial batch of three names.
The President, in two separate letters addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, urged the upper chamber to give expeditious consideration to 15 career ambassador nominees and 17 non-career ambassador nominees.
The latest list features 10 women — four among the career nominees and six among the non-career category.
Prominent personalities on the non-career ambassador list include Barr. Ogbonnaya Kalu (Abia), former presidential aide Reno Omokri (Delta), former INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, former Ekiti First Lady Erelu Angela Adebayo, and former Enugu Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
Also nominated are former Katsina House of Assembly Speaker Tasiu Musa Maigari, former Plateau Commissioner Yakubu N. Gambo, and the immediate past UBEC Deputy Executive Secretary. The list further includes former Plateau Senator Prof. Nora Ladi Daduut, former Lagos Deputy Governor Otunba Femi Pedro, former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode, and Barr. Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu of Anambra.
A notable inclusion is former Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, who joins other high-profile figures such as former Oyo First Lady Fatima Florence Ajimobi, former Lagos Commissioner Lola Akande, former Adamawa Senator Grace Bent, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim (Ondo), and former Vatican envoy Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu.
Career ambassador nominees include Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu (Abia), Yakubu Nyaku Danladi (Taraba), Maimuna 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).
Upon Senate confirmation, the nominees are expected to be deployed to countries with strong and strategic diplomatic ties with Nigeria including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the UAE, Qatar, South Africa, Kenya — as well as key multilateral missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union.
This comes a week after President Tinubu submitted three names — Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun) — shortlisted for possible postings to the United States, United Kingdom, or France.
According to the Presidency, more ambassadorial nominations will be transmitted to the Senate in due course.
