By Bukola Hameed
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has submitted a new list of thirty-two ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, expanding on the first batch of three nominees he sent earlier in the week.
The new list features several prominent figures, including the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmud Yakubu; former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, from Delta State; and a former governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
According to a statement released on Saturday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu forwarded two separate letters to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, in which he requested the “expeditious” consideration and confirmation of fifteen career ambassadors and seventeen non-career ambassadors. The statement, titled “Tinubu Nominates 32 Additional Ambassadors,” noted that the career list contains four women while six women appear on the non-career list.
Among the non-career nominees are individuals such as Ogbonnaya Kalu of Abia State; Reno Omokri from Delta; the former INEC chairman, Mahmud Yakubu; Erelu Adebayo, who served as First Lady of Ekiti State; and former Enugu governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
Others include Tasiu Musa Maigari, a former Speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly; Yakubu N. Gambo, who previously served as a Commissioner in Plateau State; and Nora Ladi Daduut, a former senator representing Plateau. Also named are former Lagos Deputy Governor, Otunba Femi Pedro; former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, from Osun State; and Nkechi Ufochukwu from Anambra State.
The list further includes former Oyo First Lady, Florence Ajimobi; former Lagos Commissioner, Lola Akande; former Adamawa senator, Grace Bent; a former governor of Abia State, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu; the businessman and senator from Ondo State, Jimoh Ibrahim; as well as Paul Oga Adikwu, a former Nigerian ambassador to the Holy See from Benue State.
Tinubu’s career nominees include Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu of Abia State; Yakubu Nyaku Danladi of Taraba; Miamuna Ibrahim Besto from Adamawa; Musa Musa Abubakar of Kebbi; and Syndoph Paebi Endoni of Bayelsa. Others are Chima Geoffrey Lioma David of Ebonyi; Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim from Ogun; Abimbola Samuel Reuben of Ondo; Yvonne Ehinosen Odumah from Edo; and Hamza Mohammed Salau of Niger. The list also features Ambassador Shehu Barde from Katsina, Ambassador Ahmed Mohammed Monguno from Borno, Ambassador Muhammad Saidu Dahiru from Kaduna, Ambassador Olatunji Ahmed Sulu Gambari of Kwara, and Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande from Osun State.
Onanuga explained that the nominees are expected to receive postings to countries considered strategically important to Nigeria’s foreign relations, including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa and Kenya. Others will be deployed to permanent missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO and the African Union. Their specific postings will only be made public after the Senate confirms their appointments.
The President’s new submission follows the earlier nomination of Ambassador Ayodele Oke from Oyo State, Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu from Jigawa, and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are from Ogun, who are being considered for ambassadorial roles in the United States, the United Kingdom or France.
Onanuga added that more ambassadorial nominations will soon be announced, as the administration intends to stagger postings based on the foreign policy priorities of the Federal Government.