President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded the names of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, just days after submitting an initial batch of three.
In two separate letters to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu requested the expeditious consideration of 15 career ambassadors and 17 non-career ambassadors. The lists include four women among the career nominees and six among the non-career nominees.
Prominent figures on the non-career list include former presidential aide Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu, Reno Omokri, former INEC chairman Mahmud Yakubu, former Ekiti first lady Erelu Angela Adebayo, and former Enugu governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. Others are former Katsina House of Assembly speaker Tasiu Musa Maigari, ex-Plateau commissioner Yakubu N. Gambo, former senator Nora Ladi Daduut, ex-Lagos deputy governor Otunba Femi Pedro, former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode, and former Oyo first lady Fatima Florence Ajimobi. The list also features former Lagos commissioner Lola Akande, ex-Adamawa senator Grace Bent, former Abia governor Victor Okezie Ikpeazu, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim of Ondo, and former envoy to the Vatican, Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu.
Career ambassadorial nominees include Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu of Abia, Yakubu Nyaku Danladi of Taraba, Miamuna Ibrahim Besto of Adamawa, Musa Musa Abubakar of Kebbi, Syndoph Paebi Endoni of Bayelsa, Chima Geoffrey Lioma David of Ebonyi, and Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim of Ogun. Others are Abimbola Samuel Reuben of Ondo, Yvonne Ehinosen Odumah of Edo, Hamza Mohammed Salau of Niger, Ambassador Shehu Barde of Katsina, Ambassador Ahmed Mohammed Monguno of Borno, Ambassador Muhammad Saidu Dahiru of Kaduna, Ambassador Olatunji Ahmed Sulu Gambari of Kwara, and Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande of Osun.
The nominees are expected to be deployed to countries with which Nigeria maintains strategic bilateral 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, Tinubu submitted three nominees—Ambassador Ayodele Oke of Oyo, Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu of Jigawa, and retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are of Ogun—who are being considered for postings to the UK, USA, or France. The president has indicated that more ambassadorial nominations will follow.