By Peter Onyekachukwu 
By Peter Onyekachukwu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded a fresh batch of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate, expanding the list of Nigerians expected to represent the country in key global missions.
The new list, submitted in two separate letters to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, comes barely days after the President transmitted the first set of three nominees for high-profile postings. Tinubu urged lawmakers to give the nominees urgent consideration and confirmation.
According to Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the latest list features 15 career diplomats and 17 non-career nominees. Among them are 10 women—four career and six non-career—reflecting what the Presidency describes as a deliberate inclusion effort.
Notably, prominent political figures made the non-career list. They include former presidential aide Reno Omokri (Delta), former Aviation Minister Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, former Abia Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, and former INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmud Yakubu.
Also listed are former Ekiti First Lady, Erelu Angela Adebayo; former Lagos Deputy Governor, Otunba Femi Pedro; Senator Jimoh Ibrahim from Ondo; and Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu of Abia State. Others include Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, former Plateau senator, and former Speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly, Tasiu Musa Maigari.
The list further includes former Oyo First Lady Fatima Florence Ajimobi; former Adamawa Senator Grace Bent; Lola Akande, a former Lagos commissioner; and Paul Oga Adikwu, a former Nigerian Ambassador to the Holy See.
For the career diplomats, the nominees include Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu (Abia), Miamuna Ibrahim Besto (Adamawa), Syndoph Paebi Endoni (Bayelsa), Chima Geoffrey Lioma David (Ebonyi), and Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun). Other career names are Ambassador Shehu Barde, Ambassador Ahmed Monguno, Ambassador Saidu Dahiru and Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande.
The nominees are expected to be deployed to strategic international assignments in countries such as China, India, Canada, the UAE, Mexico, Qatar, South Korea, Kenya, South Africa, and multilateral institutions including the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union. Their final postings will be determined after Senate approval.
This comes a week after Tinubu submitted three nominees—Ambassador Ayodele Oke, Ambassador Amin Dalhatu, and retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are—who are being considered for top missions in the United Kingdom, the United States, or France.
The Presidency has also hinted that more ambassadorial nominations would be released in the coming weeks as the administration continues its diplomatic reshuffle and foreign mission restructuring.