Ugwuanyi to forgo Senate, picks Ambassadorial nomination

The Immediate past governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has chosen to go for Ambassadorial position in place of Nigeria Senate.

Ugwuanyi, then of the PDP, lost going to Senate to the Labour Party in the 2023 election. The elected Senator for Enugu North Senatorial district, Okey Ezea passed on this month. There was high expectations from the state that Ugwuanyi could step into the vacant seat anytime INEC calls for election.

But President Bola Tinubu, today, sent Ugwuanyi among the names of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, days after he sent the first batch of three names.

Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, in a statement, said that in two separate letters to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu asked the Senate to consider and confirm expeditiously 15 nominees as career ambassadors and 17 nominees as non-career ambassadors.

Ugwuanyi is among that 32 names in the list that contains four women on the career ambassadors' list and six women on the non-career ambassadors' list.

Among the non-career ambassador designates are Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu from Abia, a former presidential aide, Reno Omokri (Delta), former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmud Yakubu, former Ekiti first lady, Erelu Angela Adebayo, and former Enugu governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

Others are Tasiu Musa Maigari, the former speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly, Yakubu N. Gambo, a former Commissioner in Plateau State and former deputy executive secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, a former senator from Plateau; Otunba Femi Pedro, a former deputy governor of Lagos State; Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a former aviation minister from Osun State; and Barrister Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu from Anambra State are on the nomination list.

Also on the list are former First Lady of Oyo, Fatima Florence Ajimobi, former Lagos Commissioner, Lola Akande, former Adamawa Senator, Grace Bent, former governor of Abia, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, businessman, lawyer and Senator from Ondo State, and the former ambassador of Nigeria to the Holy See, Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu from Benue State.

Among the nominees for career ambassador and high commissioner-designates are: Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu (Abia), Yakubu Nyaku Danladi (Taraba), Miamuna Ibrahim Besto (Adamawa), Musa Musa Abubakar (Kebbi), Syndoph Paebi Endoni (Bayelsa), Chima Geoffrey Lioma David (Ebonyi) and Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun).

The other nominees are Abimbola Samuel Reuben (Ondo), Yvonne Ehinosen Odumah (Edo), Hamza Mohammed Salau (Niger), Ambassador Shehu Barde (Katsina), Ambassador Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno), Ambassador Muhammad Saidu Dahiru (Kaduna), Ambassador Olatunji Ahmed Sulu Gambari (Kawara) and Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande (Osun).

The new nominees are expected to be posted to countries with which Nigeria maintains excellent and strategic bilateral relations, such as China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Kenya, and to Permanent Missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union. All the nominees will know their diplomatic assignments after their confirmation by the Senate.

Last week, President Tinubu sent three ambassadorial nominees for screening and confirmation. The nominees were Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun). All three are in the pot for posting to the UK, USA, or France after their confirmation.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said more nominees for ambassadorial positions will be announced soon.