President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated 32 individuals as ambassadors, including former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode and former presidential spokesperson Reno Omokri.
President Tinubu forwarded the list of ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, days after submitting an initial batch of three names.
The nominees submitted to the Senate for confirmation and screening were Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun). They are expected to be posted to the United Kingdom, the United States, or France after confirmation.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy said: “In two separate letters to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu asked the Senate to consider and confirm expeditiously 15 nominees as career ambassadors and 17 nominees as non-career ambassadors.”
According to the statement, four women are on the list of career ambassador nominees, while six women are listed among the non-career nominees.
Among the non-career ambassador designates are Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu (Abia); former presidential aide Reno Omokri (Delta); former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmud Yakubu; former Ekiti First Lady, Erelu Angela Adebayo; and former Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
Others include Tasiu Musa Maigari, former Speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly; Yakubu N. Gambo, former Commissioner in Plateau State and former Deputy Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC); Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, former Senator from Plateau; Otunba Femi Pedro, former Deputy Governor of Lagos State; Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, former Aviation Minister (Osun State); and Barrister Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu (Anambra).
Also nominated are former First Lady of Oyo, Fatima Florence Ajimobi; former Lagos Commissioner, Lola Akande; former Adamawa Senator, Grace Bent; former Governor of Abia, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu; Senator Jimoh Ibrahim of Ondo State: and the former Ambassador of Nigeria to the Holy See, Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu (Benue).
The nominees for career ambassador and high commissioner positions are 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 on the career list include 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 nominees are expected to be posted to countries with which Nigeria maintains strong and strategic bilateral relationships, including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, and Kenya. Others will be posted to Permanent Missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union. All the nominees will know their diplomatic assignments after their confirmation by the Senate.
The President affirmed that more nominees for ambassadorial positions will be announced soon.
