President Bola Tinubu has forwarded 65 new ambassadorial nominees to the Senate, including former Rivers State sole administrator Ibok-Ete Ibas and ex-Minister of Interior Abdulrahman Dambazau.
Others nominated as non-career ambassadors include former senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East (2011-2015) Ita Enang, ex-Imo State First Lady Chioma Ohakim, and Senator Folasade Grace Bent.
The nominees were contained in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary in Abuja on Thursday, December 4, 2025.
Tinubu, in the letter, appealed to the Senate to expedite consideration of the nominees, saying it was to “ensure that key diplomatic vacancies are promptly filled.”
Akpabio thereafter forwarded the list to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, directing the panel “to complete its screening and submit its report within one week.”
The new nominees were not included in the earlier batch of ambassadorial nominees released by the presidency.
The full list of 65 nominees consists of 34 career ambassadors and high commissioners and 31 non-career ambassadors and high commissioners. Notable career nominees include Sulu-Gambari Olatunde Ahmed from Kwara State and Segun Ige from Edo State.
Akpabio also noted that three previously forwarded nominees; Kayode Are (Ogun State), Aminu Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Ayodele Oke (Oyo State), “have been screened by its committee on Foreign Affairs, while the new 65 nominees have been forwarded to the same committee for screening within one week.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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