December 07, (THEWILL) — Just as many discerning Nigerian were still making assessments of the first and second batches of ambassadorial nominees comprising three top security chiefs and 29 politically exposed persons, President Bola Tinubu on Thursday released another batch comprising 34 career ambassadors and High Commissioners and 31 non-career envoys, bring the total to 68 nominees. They are awaiting screening and confirmation by the Senate.
Since the release of the last batch, the assessment mill has gone into overdrive. Some stakeholders have knocked the government over what they considered a game plan to distribute favours to cronies, while others fault the nominees for what they considered their shady characters unbefitting of the status of envoys who would be directly representing the President in their respective assignments and ultimately the country as a territorial entity. Firing a warning short on Saturday former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, Borno South urged President Tinubu to withdraw the ambassadorial nomination list before the Senate, claiming that its composition violate the Federal Character Principle as prescribed by the 1999 Constitution.
“At this crical time in the life of his administration, President Tinubu must avoid decisions that could fuel ethnic tension and breed distrust I appeal to withdrawal the list and present fresh set of nominees that aligns with the spirit of the constitution.”
Former Vice President and a leader of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar in a statement he personally signed and made available to THEWILL, said some of the appointments were obviously patronage in character. For example, he cited the appointment of the immediate past National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu. He stated that nominating Yakubu who had recently completed his tenure at the electoral commission was in bad taste and negatively impacts public trust in democratic institutions.
“Such a nomination raises serious concerns. It risks appearing as a quid pro quo rather than a recognition of merit. It presents terrible optics for an administration already struggling with credibility. It sends the wrong message to the current @inecnigeria leadership; that partisan, compromised, or poorly executed elections may ultimately be rewarded. And most importantly, it is morally indefensible for an umpire at the centre of one of the most disputed elections in our history to become a beneficiary of its outcome,” the former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2034 general election, said, adding that, ”this is not the path to strengthening our democracy or restoring public trust in our institutions.”
Professor Anthony Kila shared the same thought as Abubakar. He said on a TV interview, “It will be bad of me to come on National TV and keep quiet over the nomination of Mahmood Yakubu. That is a bad choice. What is the essence after eight years of leading INEC to need another job. Let them go and reflect about the election he conducted and maybe write a book about it. What is the rush to make him ambassador immediately? That is a bad call.”
A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Kingsley Moghalu, expressed shock about seeing some names on the list of the nominees and questioned their moral standing in regard to their previous statements made against President Bola Tinubu in the past. Writing on his X account, the one-time presidential candidate on the platform of the Young Progressive Party, YPP, in the 2019 presidential poll, wondered how the nominees individuals in question could make and publish abusive statements language against Tinubu and then turn around to accept appointments from the President.
“I am chilled to the bones when I see what some of today’s @officialABAT ambassadorial nominees have written and said about him in the past. I am not a political partisan for or against President Tinubu. It’s quite OK to disagree with people politically and even on principle, and perhaps later have a change of mind,” he said.
“But the kind of extreme, personally abusive, and invective-loaded language these people have used to describe a human being, and then later turn around and accept crumbs from the subject of the abuse, is staggering. At least, if you feel that strongly not just about issues, but about a person, then stay in your lane, for God’s sake.
According to him, if such persons could accept their nomination “just because of fleeting political opposition (or ‘crumbflakes’ dropping at the moment) and then eat your own vomit speaks far more, I think, about the speaker or writer than about the person spoken of or written about, without conferring sainthood on anyone! If some people say Nigeria is a ‘zoo,’ we will say THEY are abusive in their use of language. My two pence.”
A retired diplomat expressed more shock and disbelief than Moghalu. Mohammed Ibrahim? Who served in many African, Asian and European countries during his tenure, said some of the nominees would turn out to be an embarrassment to the country if they were cleared and deployed, fearing that some countries may reject the persons in question. In obvious reference to Prof Yakubu, he noted that if Nigeria was a country where public institutions follow the rule and regulations rigidly, someone who has held the position of a National Chairman in a civil service organisation and left, he would not accept another in civil service culture immediately. He expressed worry that many of the non-career ambassadors would be unable to represent the country effectively in their respective area of primary assignment because of their inexperience. “these days they get a one –week induction course and that is grossly inadequate. Many of us who served in the Ministry spent more than a decade undergoing a learning curve before we were deployed or else unpardonable errors would be committed to the ultimate detriment of the country.”
A former envoy, Joe Keshi, simply said some of the nominees should be in jail because they have pending cases of questionable financial transactions still being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The constitutionality of the list drew the attention of the National Coordinator, Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), Jamilu Charanchi, According to him, it is troubling confirmation of the alleged widening regional imbalance under Tinubu’s administration.
“The figures speak for themselves – North-West (five), North-East (five), North-Central (five), South-East (three), South-South (three) and South-West alone secures an overwhelming 11 slots. This blatant disproportionality makes a mockery of the federal character principle and further entrenches the perception that national appointments are now tools of political patronage rather than instruments of balanced national representation,” he added
President Bola Tinubu had submitted the list sequentially to the Senate for confirmation all through last week. On Thursday, he forwarded non-career ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, featuring several prominent former public officials, including Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (rtd.), immediate past Sole Administrator of Rivers State and former Chief of Naval Staff.
The 34 career ambassadorial nominees are: Mwaobiola Ezeuwo Chukwuemeka (Abia); Maimuna Ibrahim (Adamawa); Enpeji Monica Okochukwu (Anambra); Mohammed Mahmoud Lele (Bauchi); Endoni Sindup (Bayelsa); Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno); Jen Adams Ni Okun Michael (Cross River); Clark Omeru Alexandra (Delta); Chima J. Leoma Davies (Ebonyi); Oduma Yvonne Ehinose (Edo); Wasa Shogun Ige (Edo); Adeyemi Adebayo Emmanuel (Ekiti); Onaga Ogechukwu Kingsley (Enugu); Magaji Umar (Jigawa); Mohammed Saidu Dahiru (Kaduna); Abdul Salam Abus Zayat (Kano); Shehu (Katsina); Aminu Nasu (Katsina); Abubakar Musa Musa (Kebbi); Haidara Mohammed Idris (Kebbi); Bako Adamu Umar (Kogi); Sulu Gambari (Kwara); Romata Mohammed Omobolanle (Lagos); Shaga John Shama (Nasarawa); Salau Hamza Mohammed (Niger); Ibrahim Dan Lamy (Niger); Adjola Ibrahim Mopolola (Ogun); Ruben Abimbola Samuel (Ondo); Akonde Wahab Adekola (Osun); Ariwani Adedokun Esther (Oyo); Gedagi Joseph John (Plateau); Luther Obomode Ayokatata (Rivers); Danladi Yakubu Yaku (Taraba); Bidu Dogondagi (Zamfara).
The 31 non-career nominees include: Dr. Victor Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia); Ogbonnaya Kalu (Abia); Senator Grace Bent (Adamawa); Senator Ita Enang (Akwa Ibom); Nkechi Linda Okocha (Anambra); Mahmoud Yakubu (Bauchi); Philip K. Ikurusi (Bayelsa); Paul Olga Adiku (Benue); Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.) (Cross River); Reno Omokri (Delta); Abbasi Brahma (Edo); Erelu Angela Adebayo (Ekiti); Olumilua Oluwayemika (Ekiti); Rt. Hon. Ugwanyi Ifeanyi (Enugu); Chioma Ohakim (Imo); Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau (rtd.) (Kano); Tasiu Musa Maigari (Katsina); Abubakar Sanusi Aliu (Kogi); Olufemi Pedro (Lagos); Mohammed Obanduma Aliu (Nasarawa); Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, PhD (Ondo); Ambassador Joseph Yusuf Shara’aji (Ondo); Fani-Kayode (Osun); Ajimobi Fatima Florence (Oyo); Lola Akande (Oyo); Yakubu N. Gambo (Plateau); Senator Prof. Nora Ladi Daduut (Plateau); Onweze Chukwudi (Rivers); Dr. Kulu Haruna Abubakar (Sokoto); Rt. Hon. Jerry Samuel Manwe (Taraba); Adamu Garba Tarba-Nagri (Yobe).
The first three nominees from the initial batch — Oke, Dalhatu and Retired Colonel Are — have already been cleared by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, Akpabio has referred the new list to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, directing the panel to screen the nominees and present its report within one week.
Felix Ifijeh is a journalist with years of professional reporting experience. Known for his keen news sense, compelling storytelling and commitment to accurate, impactful reporting, he has built a reputation for turning leads into clear, engaging, and well-structured reports that resonate with readers. His work reflects deep newsroom experience and a commitment to accurate, impactful journalism.
