By ABUJA’s Johnbosco Agbakwuru
Out of the 68 ambassador-designates confirmed by the Senate in December of last year, four have been accepted for posting by President Bola Tinubu.
President Tinubu ratified the appointments of Colonel Lateef Are as the ambassador-designate to the United States of America and Ambassador Ayodele Oke as the ambassador-designate to France, according to a statement released on Thursday night by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga.
The appointment of Ambassador Amin Dalhatu, a former ambassador to South Korea, as the high commissioner-designate to the United Kingdom has also been confirmed by the President.
The announcement claims that Usman Isa Dakingari Suleiman, a former governor of Kebbi, is the ambassador-designate to Turkey, where the President is expected to start a state visit the next week.
President Tinubu asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform the governments of the four nations about the ambassador-designates in compliance with diplomatic protocols in a memo to the ministry.
Recall that, following over two years of vacancies at embassies overseas, Tinubu submitted the first list of ambassador-nominees to the Senate for approval in November of last year.
Later on, he submitted 32 more names.
Sixty-four ambassadorial nominations were confirmed in December. As a result, there are now 67 confirmed nominations overall.
Reno Omokri, a former presidential aide; Mahmood Yakubu, a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); Femi Fani-Kayode, a former minister of aviation; and Fatima Florence Ajimobi, a former first lady of Oyo, are among the names on the list in addition to the four that were approved today.
