President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced new nominations for ambassadors, forwarding a fresh list to the Senate for screening.
The list consists of 34 Career Ambassadors and High Commissioners and 31 Non-Career Ambassadors and High Commissioners, totalling 65 nominees altogether.
Tinubu nominated Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, the immediate past sole administrator of Rivers state and former naval chief, as a non-career ambassador.
Other notable nominees among the 34 career ambassadorial nominees include Sulu-Gambari Olatunde Ahmed from Kwara State and Segun Ige from Edo State.
Notable among the non-career ambassadorial nominees are Senator Folasade Grace Bent from Adamawa State, Senator Solomon Ita Enang from Akwa-Ibom State, and Senator Jimoh Ibrahim from Ondo State, among others.
Tinubu also named Chioma Ohakim, former Imo state first lady; and Abdulrahman Dambazau, former minister of interior and former chief of army staff, as non-career ambassadors.
Tinubu’s latest nominations were conveyed in a letter read on the floor of the Senate by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio during Thursday’s plenary.
In the correspondence, the president urged lawmakers to give the nominees swift consideration to enable the government to fill critical diplomatic postings.
Akpabio subsequently referred the list to the Senate committee on foreign affairs, with a directive that the panel conclude its screening exercise and report back to the chamber within one week.
The new list of 65 nominees raises the total number of ambassadorial candidates before the Senate to 68.
The new nominations for ambassadors come after two batches of nominations.
The first batch comprised three nominations as ambassadors. The nominees were Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun).
The second batch of nominations was comprised of 15 career and 17 non-career ambassadors.
Among those nominated as ambassadors are Reno Omokri, the former presidential aide; Femi Fani-Kayode, former aviation minister; and Mahmood Yakubu, the immediate past chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The latest nominations for ambassadors also come on the heels of a barrage of reactions from Nigerians.
Many people raised concerns over the integrity and democratic credentials of several figures on the nomination list.
The core of the backlash is the inclusion of several figures whom critics describe as having tainted political profiles.
Some experts also voiced fears that sending ambassadors with questionable public records would diminish Nigeria’s global reputation and diplomatic standing.
