President Bola Tinubu has forwarded the names of 32 additional ambassadorial nominees, including former chairman of the Independent National Electoral
President Bola Tinubu has forwarded the names of 32 additional ambassadorial nominees, including former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mahmud Yakubu, former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode, and former presidential aide Reno Omokri, former Enugu state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, among others, to the senate for confirmation, days after submitting an earlier batch of three nominees.
According to a statement issued on Saturday, November 29, by the special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu made the request in two separate letters addressed to the senate president, Godswill Akpabio.
He urged the senate to consider and confirm expeditiously 15 nominees as career ambassadors and 17 as non-career ambassadors.
In the statement titled ‘Tinubu nominates 32 additional ambassadors’, Onanuga noted that the list includes four women among the career ambassador nominees and six among the non-career nominees.
Among the non-career ambassadorial nominees are Ogbonnaya Kalu (Abia); Reno Omokri (Delta); former INEC chairman, Mahmud Yakubu; former Ekiti first lady, Erelu Adebayo; and former Enugu state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
Others include Tasiu Musa Maigari, former speaker of the Katsina house of assembly; Yakubu N. Gambo, a former commissioner in Plateau state and former deputy rxecutive secretary of the universal basic education commission.
Also nominated are professor Nora Ladi Daduut, a former senator from Plateau; Otunba Femi Pedro, former deputy governor of Lagos state; former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode (Osun); and Nkechi Ufochukwu (Anambra).
The list further includes former Oyo first lady, Fatima Florence Ajimobi; former Lagos commissioner, Lola Akande; former Adamawa senator, Grace Bent; former Abia state governor, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu; senator Jimoh Ibrahim (Ondo), who is also a businessman and lawyer; and former Nigerian ambassador to the Holy See, Paul Oga Adikwu (Benue).
Career ambassador 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).
Other career nominees 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).
Onanuga added that the nominees are expected to be posted to countries with which Nigeria maintains strong bilateral ties, including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, and Kenya.
Others will be assigned to permanent missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union.
“The nominees will know their specific diplomatic postings after their confirmation by the senate,” the statement read.
Last week, the president submitted three nominees for screening, ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun).
They are being considered for postings to the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (U.S), or France.
Onanuga noted that more ambassadorial nominations will be announced soon.
Saturday’s development aligns with earlier reports that the ambassadorial list will be released in phases, prioritizing countries important to Nigeria’s foreign policy..
