President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded a fresh list of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation, expanding the earlier batch of three names submitted last week.
In two separate letters addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the President requested the expeditious confirmation of 15 career ambassadors and 17 non-career ambassadors. The combined list features 10 women, with four in the career category and six in the non-career category.
Prominent figures on the non-career list include former presidential aide Reno Omokri (Delta State); businessman and senator Jimoh Ibrahim (Ondo State); former aviation minister Chief Femi Fani-Kayode (Osun State); former INEC chairman Mahmud Yakubu; former Ekiti First Lady Erelu Angela Adebayo; ex-Enugu governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; and former Oyo First Lady Florence Ajimobi.
Others are former Lagos Deputy Governor Otunba Femi Pedro; former senator Nora Ladi Daduut; former Lagos Commissioner Lola Akande; ex-Abia governor Victor Okezie Ikpeazu; politician Grace Bent; Plateau’s former commissioner Yakubu N. Gambo; former Katsina House of Assembly Speaker Tasiu Musa Maigari; and former envoy to the Vatican Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu.
The career ambassadorial 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), 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).
The nominees, once confirmed, are expected to be posted to countries with which Nigeria maintains strong strategic ties, including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the UAE, Qatar, South Africa, Kenya, as well as multilateral missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union.
Last week, the President submitted another set of three nominees—Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun)—who are being considered for postings to the UK, USA, or France.
President Tinubu noted that more ambassadorial nominations will still be announced in the coming days as part of a broader diplomatic restructuring.
