President Bola Tinubu has nominated three non-career ambassadors to represent Nigeria in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. The nominees are Ayodele Oke, Colonel Lateef Are (retd.), and Amin Dalhatu.
A post by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on X stated that the appointments will be finalised following Senate screening.
Dalhatu previously served as Nigeria’s ambassador to South Korea under the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari. Oke, an alumnus of Emory University in Atlanta, is a former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and previously served as Nigeria’s ambassador to the Secretariat of the Commonwealth of Nations in London.
Colonel Are served as Director General of the State Security Service (SSS) from 1999 to 2007, was National Security Adviser in 2010, and previously held a position in the Directorate of Military Intelligence. He graduated with First Class honours in Psychology from the University of Ibadan in 1980.
On Wednesday, Tinubu forwarded the names of the three nominees to the Senate for confirmation. Senate President Godswill Akpabio read the letter during plenary and directed the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs to review the nominations and report back within one week.
There have been calls for the appointment of ambassadors and high commissioners to foreign missions. Former Nigerian External Affairs Minister Bolaji Akinyemi said in September during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today that credible appointments were necessary, stressing that diplomacy requires personal ambassadorial contact.
“The absence of ambassadors does not deny us information. But diplomacy runs on ambassadorial contact, the interaction between governments and ambassadors,” Akinyemi said.
While addressing criticisms from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) about delays in ambassadorial appointments in June, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Nigeria’s diplomatic missions remain fully operational, effectively represented by seasoned foreign service officers, including experienced chargés d’affaires. The ministry acknowledged structural and funding challenges that predate the current administration but emphasised that Nigerian diplomats continue to serve with distinction under difficult circumstances.
President Tinubu recalled the country’s ambassadors in September 2023, paving the way for these new nominations.
