Ndume Calls on President Tinubu to Retract Ambassadorial Nominee List

President Bola Tinubu has been urged by former Senate Leader Ali Ndume to remove the list of ambassadorial nominations that were recently submitted to the Senate for review and confirmation.

According to reports, Ndume filed the appeal on Thursday in Abuja, claiming worries that the list goes against Nigeria’s Constitution’s Federal Character principle.

Ndume, speaking on behalf of Borno South, contended that the diversity mandated by Section 14(3) of the Nigerian Constitution, which requires that the makeup of governmental organizations reflect the nation’s federal character, is not reflected in the current nominations for ambassador.

Ndume claims that the list displays an uneven distribution of nominations, with some states having more than one representative while others are excluded.

He noted that Gombe State had no representation at all, the Northeast, where Ndume is from, had just seven nominees, and states like the Southwest had fifteen.

Ndume also brought attention to the passing of Yobe State’s sole nominee, Senator Adamu Garba Talba, who died in July. He claimed that this made the list even more unfair and left the state unrepresented in the nominations.

Ndume emphasized that the ambassadorial list issue might weaken national cohesion and exacerbate ethnic tensions in addition to being a question of public perception. In the interest of justice and diversity, he asked President Tinubu to reevaluate the nominees.

“The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in a way that reflects the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies,” he stated.

“I respectfully request that President Tinubu remove this list. He should steer clear of mistakes that could jeopardize national unity and foster ethnic mistrust at this crucial juncture in his leadership.

“I am aware that he is a multicultural leader who gets along with all groups and stakeholders in the nation.

“He should remove that list and submit a new list of candidates who will be in line with the Federal Character Principle of the Constitution, which states that the government’s operations and structure must reflect Nigeria’s various states and peoples.”