The Senate has confirmed the nominations of three non-career ambassadors, marking the first set of ambassadorial nominees submitted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu since he assumed office. The nominees were forwarded two weeks ago and screened by the upper chamber last week.
The confirmed nominees are Lateef Kayode Kolawole from Ogun State, Aminu Muhammad Dalhatu from Jigawa State, and Emmanuel Ayodele Oke, CFR, from Oyo State. Their confirmations followed the consideration of a report by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, which conducted the screening exercise.
Sixty-four other ambassadorial nominees, also forwarded by the President and screened by the Senate, are yet to receive confirmation.
President Tinubu had initially forwarded the three non-career ambassadorial nominees to the Senate on November 26, making it the first list of ambassadors sent to the upper chamber since he became President on May 29, 2023.
This initial list was later followed by nominations of 32 other ambassadorial candidates, including notable figures such as Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, former Governor of Enugu State; Mahmood Yakubu, immediate past INEC Chairman; Femi Fani-Kayode, former Minister; Reno Omokri, former presidential aide; Okezie Ikpeazu, former Governor of Abia State; Femi Pedro, former Deputy Governor of Lagos State; Jimoh Ibrahim, Ondo Senator and businessman; Erelu Angela Adebayo, former Ekiti First Lady; and Grace Bent, former Adamawa Senator.
A breakdown of the nominations shows four women on the career ambassadors’ list and six women on the non-career ambassadors’ list.
Other non-career ambassadorial nominees include Ogbonnaya Kalu from Abia, Tasiu Musa Maigari, former Speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly, Yakubu N. Gambo, former Plateau State Commissioner and ex-Deputy Executive Secretary of UBEC, Nora Ladi Daduut, former Senator from Plateau State, Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu from Anambra, Fatima Florence Ajimobi, ex-First Lady of Oyo, Lola Akande, former Lagos Commissioner, and Paul Oga Adikwu, former Nigerian Ambassador to the Holy See from Benue State.
The President also nominated career ambassadors and high commissioner-designates, including Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu from Abia, Yakubu Nyaku Danladi from Taraba, Miamuna Ibrahim Besto from Adamawa, Musa Musa Abubakar from Kebbi, Syndoph Paebi Endoni from Bayelsa, Chima Geoffrey Lioma David from Ebonyi, Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim from Ogun, Abimbola Samuel Reuben from Ondo, Yvonne Ehinosen Odumah from Edo, Hamza Mohammed Salau from Niger, Shehu Barde from Katsina, Ahmed Mohammed Monguno from Borno, Muhammad Saidu Dahiru from Kaduna, Olatunji Ahmed Sulu Gambari from Kwara, and Wahab Adekola Akande from Osun.
This confirmation represents the Senate’s first major endorsement of President Tinubu’s foreign policy team and diplomatic appointments since taking office.
