President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded the names of 32 additional ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, expanding on the first batch of three nominees sent last week.
In two separate letters addressed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu requested the expedited screening and confirmation of 15 career ambassadors and 17 non-career ambassadors. The new list features strong female representation, with four women among the career nominees and six among the non-career nominees.
Prominent figures on the non-career list include former presidential aide Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu (Abia), Reno Omokri (Delta), former INEC Chairman Mahmud Yakubu, former Ekiti First Lady Erelu Angela Adebayo, and former Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
Also nominated are Tasiu Musa Maigari, former Speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly; former Plateau Commissioner Yakubu N. Gambo; former UBEC deputy executive secretary; former Plateau senator Prof. Nora Ladi Daduut; former Lagos deputy governor Otunba Femi Pedro; former aviation minister Chief Femi Fani-Kayode; and Barrister Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu (Anambra).
From Oyo, former First Lady Florence Ajimobi made the list, alongside former Lagos Commissioner Lola Akande, former Adamawa senator Grace Bent, former Abia governor Victor Okezie Ikpeazu, and Ondo businessman and senator Jimoh Ibrahim. Also nominated is Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu, former envoy to the Holy See.
The career ambassadorial 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), 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 are expected to be deployed to Nigeria’s key bilateral and multilateral missions, including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the UAE, Qatar, South Africa, Kenya, the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union. Their specific postings will be determined after Senate confirmation.
Last week, the President submitted three nominees—Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun)—who are under consideration for postings to the United Kingdom, United States, or France.
President Tinubu noted that more ambassadorial nominations will be announced soon.