By our Special Correspondent
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has transmitted a fresh list of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation, expanding the ongoing overhaul of Nigeria’s diplomatic corps. The latest list arrives just days after he forwarded an initial batch of three nominees.
In two separate letters addressed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu requested “expeditious consideration and confirmation” of 15 career ambassadors and 17 non-career ambassadors.
According to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga the submissions reflect a deliberate mix of seasoned diplomats, former public office holders, academics, and political figures.
Four women are included among the career nominees, while six women made the non-career list.
Notable non-career nominees include former INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu; former Enugu State governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; former Ekiti First Lady, Erelu Angela Adebayo; former Lagos deputy governor, Otunba Femi Pedro; former Abia governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu; and former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Others are former presidential aide Reno Omokri, ex-Speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly Tasiu Musa Maigari, Plateau politician Yakubu N. Gambo, and academic-turned-politician, Professor Nora Ladi Daduut.
Also on the list are former Oyo First Lady, Florence Ajimobi, former Lagos Commissioner, Lola Akande; former Adamawa Senator, Grace Bent; Senator Jimoh Ibrahim from Ondo State, and former Nigerian Ambassador to the Holy See, Paul Oga Adikwu.
The career 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), Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun), Abimbola Samuel Reuben (Ondo), Yvonne Ehinosen Odumah (Edo), Hamza Mohammed Salau (Niger), and serving diplomats Shehu Barde (Katsina), Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno), Muhammad Saidu Dahiru (Kaduna), Olatunji Ahmed Sulu Gambari (Kwara), and Wahab Adekola Akande (Osun).
Onanuga noted that the nominees, once cleared by the Senate, will be assigned to strategic global missions where Nigeria seeks to strengthen diplomatic, economic, and security partnerships. “The ambassadors-designate will be posted to key countries including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the UAE, Qatar, South Africa, Kenya, and to multilateral missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union,” he said.
President Tinubu had earlier nominated three envoys,
Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun),
who are expected to be posted to the United Kingdom, the United States, or France once confirmed.
According to Onanuga, the President will announce additional nominees in the coming days as part of efforts to recalibrate Nigeria’s foreign service.
