Tinubu sends three ambassadorial nominees to Senate

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday transmitted names of three ambassador-nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation.

The development comes over two years after Tinubu recalled ambassadors from Nigeria’s 109 foreign missions.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the submission of the three names during plenary on Wednesday.

The nominees are Kayode Are from Ogun State, Aminu Dalhatu from Jigawa State, and Ayodele Oke as the nominees.

“The list contains three names for now. I am sure others will follow,” Akpabio said after reading Tinubu’s letter.

Tinubu had recalled all ambassadors in September 2023, four months after taking office, citing the need for a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s foreign missions.

But since then, no replacements had been made, leaving missions to be run by charge d’affaires — career civil servants without the full diplomatic authority recognised by host countries.

In April, Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar disclosed that a list of nominees had been with the President for over a year, blaming the delay on economic disruptions caused by subsidy removal and the naira floatation.

Despite those explanations, critics have repeatedly questioned why an administration seeking foreign investment, trade expansion, infrastructure support, and strategic security partnerships would leave embassies leaderless.

The debate became heightened recently on the back of Nigeria’s diplomatic tension with the United State after President Donald Trump designated Nigeria a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ over alleged Christian genocide.

Wednesday’s submission marks the first concrete step toward restoring Nigeria’s diplomatic footprint since the mass recall more than two years ago.