President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded a second batch of ambassadorial nominees to the Senate, bringing the total number of candidates recently submitted for diplomatic postings to 35.
In two separate letters addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu sought the speedy confirmation of 32 new nominees—15 career diplomats and 17 non-career ambassadors. The list includes four women among the career nominees and six among the non-career nominees.
The non-career list features several prominent political figures, including former presidential aide Reno Omokri (Delta); former INEC chairman Mahmud Yakubu; former Ekiti First Lady Erelu Angela Adebayo; former Enugu State governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; and former Lagos deputy governor Otunba Femi Pedro.
Also nominated are former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode (Osun); ex-Abia governor Victor Okezie Ikpeazu; former Oyo First Lady Florence Ajimobi; Senator Jimoh Ibrahim (Ondo); former Plateau senator Nora Ladi Daduut; former Lagos commissioner Lola Akande; former Adamawa senator Grace Bent; and former Nigerian ambassador to the Holy See, Paul Oga Adikwu (Benue).
Other nominees include Barr. Ogbonnaya Kalu (Abia), former Katsina House of Assembly speaker Tasiu Musa Maigari, former Plateau commissioner Yakubu N. Gambo, and ex-UBEC deputy executive secretary Yakubu Gambo.
Career ambassador 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). Others are 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).
The nominees, once confirmed, are expected to be deployed to countries with which Nigeria maintains significant diplomatic and strategic ties, including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, and Kenya, as well as multilateral missions such as the UN, UNESCO, and the African Union.
The president had earlier submitted three ambassadorial nominees last week—Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun)—who are considered for postings to the United Kingdom, the United States, or France.
According to the Presidency, more ambassadorial nominations will follow.