President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has transmitted a second batch of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation, bringing to 35 the total number of names submitted within the past week.
The President’s request was contained in two separate letters addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and read during plenary on Friday. Tinubu urged the upper chamber to undertake an expedited confirmation process for the nominees, comprising 15 career diplomats and 17 non-career appointees.
Among the non-career nominees are prominent political figures and technocrats, including former presidential aide Reno Omokri (Delta), former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, former Ekiti First Lady Erelu Angela Adebayo, and former Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. Also on the list are former Lagos Deputy Governor Otunba Femi Pedro, former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode, former Oyo First Lady Florence Ajimobi, ex-Lagos commissioner Lola Akande, former senator Grace Bent, former Abia governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, and former Vatican envoy Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu.
Others include Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu (Abia), former Katsina Assembly Speaker Tasiu Musa Maigari, Yakubu N. Gambo, and former UBEC deputy executive secretary, along with Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, a former senator from Plateau.
The career diplomats nominated 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), 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).
Sources at the Presidency indicated that the nominees will be deployed to countries with which Nigeria maintains “excellent and strategic” diplomatic relations, including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the UAE, Qatar, South Africa, and Kenya, as well as multilateral missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union. Final postings will be determined after Senate confirmation.
Last week, Tinubu sent an initial list of three nominees—Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun)—who are expected to be considered for key diplomatic postings to the United Kingdom, the United States, or France.
According to the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, more ambassadorial nominations will be announced in the coming days.
