The Senate has received an executive communication containing two lists of ambassadorial nominees for screening and confirmation.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who read the letters, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu requested the Senate to consider and confirm the nominees expeditiously for appointment as career and non-career ambassadors.
The two lists include 34 career ambassador nominees and 31 non-career ambassador nominees.
Among the non-career nominees are former INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu; former Ekiti First Lady, Erelu Angela Adebayo; former Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu from Abia; and former presidential aide, Reno Omokri (Delta).
Others are Tasiu Musa Maigari, the former speaker of the Katsina state House of Assembly, Yakubu N. Gambo, a former Commissioner in Plateau State, former deputy executive secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, a former senator from Plateau State.
Among the nominees for career ambassador and high commissioner-designates are: 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) and Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun).
Other nominees include Otunba Femi Pedro, a former deputy governor of Lagos State; Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a former aviation minister from Osun State; and Barrister Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu from Anambra State are on the nomination list.
Also on the list are former First Lady of Oyo, Fatima Florence Ajimobi, former Lagos Commissioner, Lola Akande, former Adamawa Senator, Grace Bent, former governor of Abia, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, businessman, lawyer and Senator from Ondo State, and the former ambassador of Nigeria to the Holy See, Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu from Benue State.
The other career nominees are 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 (Kawara) and Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande (Osun).
The new nominees are expected to be posted to countries with which Nigeria maintains excellent and strategic bilateral relations, such as China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Kenya,
Also will post to Permanent Missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union. All the nominees will know their diplomatic assignments after their confirmation by the Senate.
Ealier, President Tinubu sent three ambassadorial nominees for screening and confirmation who were Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun).
All three are in the pot for posting to the UK, USA, or France after their confirmation.
Cov/ Bashir M
