Tinubu’s 65 Ambassadorial Nominees to Face Strict Senate Screening

Next week, the Senate will scrutinize President Bola Tinubu’s 65 ambassadorial nominees closely as lawmakers pledge a stringent confirmation procedure to guarantee that only competent and patriotic people are assigned to represent Nigeria overseas.

The screening will not be “business as usual,” according to three opposition senators who spoke to Punch under condition of anonymity. They emphasized the necessity for qualified envoys given Nigeria’s present difficulties on the international scene.

According to a ranking senator, the nature of diplomatic postings necessitates people who are competent, honest, and focused on the national interest rather than just politics.

“We need seasoned and knowledgeable men and women who can represent and defend Nigeria’s interests before the international community,” the congressman stated.

“We would make sure that those who would represent Nigeria at the foreign missions are patriotic individuals with integrity because the ambassadorial position is not just about political patronage or a job for the boys.”

Each nominee will be “properly grilled” to make sure they are qualified for the position, according to another lawmaker.

President Tinubu asked the Senate to confirm the nominations during its plenary session on Thursday.

Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, read the President’s letter, which contained 31 non-career candidates and 34 career ambassadors and high commissioners.

The request came after the Senate had already begun screening a previous batch of three nominees.

Tinubu asked the upper house to “consider and confirm expeditiously” the nominees, citing Sections 171 (1), (2), and (4) of the 1999 Constitution.

Among the notable career diplomats on the list are Ambassadors Maimuna Ibrahim (Adamawa), Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno), and Sulu-Gambari Olatunji Ahmed (Kwara). Prominent non-career nominees include former presidential aide and senator Ita Enang (Akwa Ibom), former Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.) from Kano, and former Chief of Naval Staff and former Rivers State military administrator Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) from Cross River.

The Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs was given the list by Akpabio, who also gave them a week to finish the screening and turn in their findings.

The Senate President said, “The committee is to report back to us in one week.”