President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has submitted a fresh list of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate, expanding his diplomatic selection days after forwarding an initial batch of three names.
In two separate letters addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the President requested the upper chamber to give accelerated consideration to 15 career diplomats and 17 non-career nominees. The new list includes four women among the career nominees and six women among the non-career category.
Prominent figures on the non-career list include former presidential aide Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu (Abia); social commentator Reno Omokri (Delta); immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu; former Ekiti First Lady, Erelu Angela Adebayo; and former Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
Others nominated as non-career envoys are former Speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly, Tasiu Musa Maigari; ex-Plateau Commissioner and former Deputy Executive Secretary of UBEC, Yakubu N. Gambo; former Senator Nora Ladi Daduut (Plateau); former Lagos Deputy Governor, Otunba Femi Pedro; and former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode (Osun).
Also included are Barrister Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu (Anambra); former Oyo First Lady, Fatima Florence Ajimobi; ex-Lagos Commissioner, Lola Akande; former Adamawa Senator, Grace Bent; former Abia Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu; Ondo Senator Jimoh Ibrahim; and former Nigerian Ambassador to the Holy See, Paul Oga Adikwu (Benue).
The 15 career ambassador and high commissioner-designates 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), Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun), 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).
According to the Presidency, the nominees, once confirmed, will be deployed to strategic diplomatic posts in countries including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, and Kenya, as well as key multilateral missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union. Specific postings will be assigned after Senate confirmation.
The President had earlier forwarded three nominees, Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun), who are being considered for postings to the United Kingdom, United States, or France.
President Tinubu, according to Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, will announce additional nominees in due course.
