President Bola Tinubu has forwarded a fresh list of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate, requesting their swift confirmation. The new transmission, delivered on Thursday, came just a day after lawmakers began screening an earlier batch of three ambassadorial candidates.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio read the President’s letter during plenary, noting Tinubu’s appeal for urgent legislative action. The correspondence asked senators to “consider and confirm expeditiously” the nominees, comprising 15 career ambassadors and 17 non-career ambassadors.
The latest list includes 10 women—four among career diplomats and six from the non-career category—reflecting what appears to be an incremental push toward gender balance in foreign service appointments.
The non-career nominees feature several prominent political figures, including former presidential aide Reno Omokri; former Lagos deputy governor Otunba Femi Pedro; former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode; former Enugu State governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; and Senator Jimoh Ibrahim.
Non-Career Nominees
- Ogbonnaya Kalu (Abia)
- Reno Omokri (Delta)
- Prof. Mahmood Yakubu (Bauchi)
- Erelu Bisi Angela Adebayo (Ekiti)
- Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu)
- Tasiu Musa Maigari (Katsina)
- Yakubu N. Gambo (Plateau)
- Prof. Nora Ladi Daduut (Plateau)
- Otunba Femi Pedro (Lagos)
- Chief Femi Fani-Kayode (Osun)
- Barr. Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu (Anambra)
- Fatima Florence Ajimobi (Oyo)
- Lola Akande (Lagos)
- Grace Bent (Adamawa)
- Dr Victor Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia)
- Senator Jimoh Ibrahim (Ondo)
- Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu (Benue)
Career Nominees
- 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)
- Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun)
- 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)
- Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande (Osun)
Akpabio referred the entire list to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, directing it to conclude its screening process and report back within one week.
The committee had only a day earlier begun screening three ambassadorial nominees—Kayode Are, Aminu Dalhatu, and Ayodele Oke—whose names the President submitted last week. During that exercise, Chairman Senator Sani Bello said Oke had addressed earlier allegations linked to him.
The Senate is expected to consider the committee’s report on the initial trio shortly, even as lawmakers begin vetting the newly submitted nominees.
