- Safiu Kehinde
President Bola Tinubu has nominated former Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas (Rtd), for ambassadorial role.
This was contained in a fresh list of non-career ambassadorial nominees submitted to the Senate by the President on Thursday.
According to reports, the new list read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during the red chamber’s plenary session today featured several high-profile political figures and former service chiefs who were not included in the earlier batch released by the presidency.
Nominated alongside Ibas are former senator and presidential aide, Ita Enang, former First Lady of Imo State, Chioma Ohakim; and former Minister of Interior and ex-Chief of Army Staff, Abdulrahman Dambazau.
Tinubu, in the fresh letter urged the Senate to give the nominees swift consideration to fill what he described as critical diplomatic postings awaiting occupancy.
Akpabio subsequently referred the nominations to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, directing the panel to conclude screening and submit its report to the chamber within one week.
The development comes barely days after the president nominated Reno Omokri, former presidential aide; Femi Fani-Kayode, ex-Minister of Aviation; and Mahmood Yakubu, immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as non-career ambassadors.