Next week, the Senate will examine 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 interests of the country rather than merely politics.
“Our current situation requires seasoned and knowledgeable men and women who can represent and defend Nigeria’s interests before the international community,” the legislator stated.
“We would make sure that those who would represent Nigeria at the foreign missions are patriotic individuals with integrity because an ambassadorial position is not just about political patronage or a job for the boys.”
Each nominee will be “properly grilled,” according to another senator, to make sure they are qualified for the position.
President Tinubu asked the Senate to confirm the nominations during a plenary session on Thursday.
The President’s letter, which contained two batches of nominees—31 non-career and 34 career ambassadors and high commissioners—was read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The request came after the Senate had already begun screening a previous group of three nominees.
Tinubu called on 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 Maimuna Ibrahim (Adamawa), Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno), and Sulu-Gambari Olatunji Ahmed (Kwara). Prominent non-career nominees include former presidential aide and former 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 the panel a week to do the screening and turn in its findings.
The Senate President declared, “The committee is to report back to us in one week.”
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