Tinubu sends 32 ambassadorial nominees to Senate for confirmation

Abdullateef Fowewe

President Bola Tinubu has forwarded the names of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, just days after presenting an initial batch of three nominees.

This was made known in a statement on Saturday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

In letters addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu urged the Senate to “consider and confirm expeditiously” 15 career ambassadors and 17 non-career ambassadors.

The list includes four women among the career diplomats and six women among the non-career appointees.

Notable figures on the non-career list include former presidential aide Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu (Abia), former INEC chairman Mahmud Yakubu (Delta), former Ekiti first lady Erelu Angela Adebayo, and ex-Enugu governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

The list also features former Lagos deputy governor Otunba Femi Pedro and ex-aviation minister Chief Femi Fani-Kayode (Osun State).

Career ambassador nominees span a range of experienced diplomats such as Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu (Abia), Musa Musa Abubakar (Kebbi), and Ambassador Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno).

“Among the non-career ambassador designates are Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu from Abia, a former presidential aide, Reno Omokri (Delta), former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmud Yakubu, former Ekiti first lady, Erelu Angela Adebayo, and former Enugu governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

“Others are Tasiu Musa Maigari, the former speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly, Yakubu N. Gambo, a former Commissioner in Plateau State and former deputy executive secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).