Temidayo Akinsuyi, Lagos

Almost six months after their nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari, 82 ambassadorial nominees, who were already cleared by the Sen­ate, are currently left in the dark as there has not been any official com­munication from the presidency, Dai­ly Independent has gathered.

President Buhari in May nomi­nated 42 career ambassadors and sent their names to the Senate for confirmation.

The nominees are: C.O. Nwachukwu (Abia); A. Ke­fas (Adamawa); R.U Brown (Akwa Ibom); G.A Odudig­bo (Anambra); O.C Onowu (Anambra); Y.S. Suleiman (Bauchi); E.S. Agbana (Bayel­sa); B.B.M. Okoyen (Bayelsa); G.M. Okoko (Benue); A.M. Garba (Borno); M.I. Bashir (Borno); M.O. Abam (Cross River); A.E. Allotey (Cross River); G. E. Edokpa (Edo); A. N. Madubuike (Enugu); Adamu Lamuwa (Gombe); Mr. Innocent A. Iwejuo (Imo); M. S. Abubakar (Jigawa); Y. A. Ahmed (Jigawa); S. D. Umar (Kaduna); A. Sule (Kano); G. Y. Hamza (Kano).

Others are: N. Rimi (Kat­sina); L. S. Ahmed-Remawa (Katsina); M. Manu (Kebbi); l. R. Ocheni (Kogi); l. A. Yu­suf (Kogi); M. Abdulraheem (Kwara); W. A. Adedeji (La­gos); A. U. Ogah (Nasarawa); A. A. Musa (Niger); N. A. Kolo (Niger); S.O. Olaniyan (Ogun); A. R. Adejola (Ogun); O. E. Awe (Ondo); O. O. Aluko (Osun); I. A. Alatishe (Osun); V. A. Adeleke (Oyo); M. S. Ada­mu (Plateau); I. N. Charles (Rivers); Z M. Ifu (Taraba), and B. B. Hamman (Yobe).

Also in July, the president presented the list of 42 am­bassadorial nominees to the Senate for approval. One of the nominees from the Fed­eral Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, was appointed as ca­reer ambassador, while the rest are non-career nominees.

Some of the names in the list include former Minister of State for Defence, Demo­la Seriki (Lagos); Maureen Tamuno (Rivers), Umar Su­laiman (Adamawa), Obong Effiong Akpan (Akwa Ibom), Dare Sunday Awoniyi (Kogi) and Debo Adesina, immediate past Editor-in-chief of The Guardian.

In July, the Senate con­firmed the nominees and sent their names back to the pres­ident. Some of the nominees, who were not in the country were screened through virtu­al communication.

Speaking with our corre­spondent on Wednesday, one of the nominees from the Northern part of the country said like his colleagues, he has been in the dark since his confirmation by the Senate as regards his posting.

The nominee, who asked not to be quoted, said he kept calling some of the nominees on a daily basis if they have been called but their response has been negative.

“Honestly, I don’t under­stand what is going on. No­body is talking to us, both in the presidency and the Foreign Affairs Ministry. It is over five months now since we were nominated. We have been cleared yet there is no information from the presi­dency”, he said.

Also speaking on condition of anonymity, another nom­inee from the South-Eastern part of the country said even though he was worried about the delay too, he got informa­tion from a source in the presi­dency that the delay was due to COVID-19 pandemic which is still ravaging foreign countries.

“Well, I won’t say we ha­ven’t heard anything from them but nobody has a clue yet about when we will be posted. A friend of mine in the presidency said the delay was due to COVID-19 pandem­ic but I don’t think that excuse is tenable. As a journalist do your findings. In August, the president received Letters of Credence from Ambassadors/ High Commissioners of eight countries at the State House".

“Let me check their names. Hocine Latil of Algeria; Lu­ong Quoc Thinh of Vietnam; Dr. Benson Alfred Bana of Tanzania; Traore Kalilou of Cote d’Ivoire; Abakar Saleh Chahaimi of Chad; Jamal Mo­hammed Barrow of Somalia; Brahim Salem El Mami Bu­seif of Sahrawi Arab Repub­lic and Mohammed Alibak of Iran.

“So, if other countries are posting ambassadors despite COVID-19, why should Nige­ria’s own be different? The suspense is becoming un­bearable.”

Efforts made by Daily In­dependent to reach Geoffrey Onyeama, the Minister of Foreign Affairs proved abor­tive as calls and text messag­es sent to his line were not returned.

However, speaking with our correspondent, a senior official in the ministry who asked not to be named as she is not authorised to speak on the subject said the two ma­jor challenges delaying the posting is funding and the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said due to the sever­ity of the second wave of COVID-19 in foreign coun­tries, some of the nominees have expressed their feelings that they don’t want to be post­ed now and will wait till the coast is clear.

She, however, added that it is the prerogative of the president who appointed the ambassadorial nominees to determine where and when they will be posted.

“We all know COVID-19 has been a challenge all over the world. The countries they want to send the nominees to is a major challenge. In fact, some of the nominees said since they are unsure of where they will be posted to, they will prefer the posting to be delayed since Nigeria is safer as regards the COVID-19 pandemic. If you remember, many Nigerians who were abroad begged to be evacuat­ed home during the lockdown period”.

She also said the ministry is trying to put certain things in place which require a lot of funding as some of the news coming from the embassies are “huge embarrassments to Nigeria’s image in the global community”.

“Also, two weeks ago, the Minister of Foreign Affairs defended the budget in which case, it was shown that there are issues concerning funding the missions. It stands to rea­son that at the end of the year, the president will want to take everything together with the New Year budget.

“On principle, ambassa­dors are representative of the president and command­er-in-chief and that of the country. It must be noted that it is the president that wants to send these ambassadorial nominees on errand; so he is the determining factor in ev­erything you will do.

“The delay is in the best interest of Nigeria. The pres­ident really wants to organise some of these things to put an end to some of these embar­rassments which the minister spoke about in the Senate.

“We are talking of em­barrassments like failure of the embassies to pay house rents; landlords threatening to throw their things out; lack of equipment to work with and so on. The president wants to put a stop to it and that is one of the reasons for the delay.

https://www.independent.ng/five-months-on-buhari-keeps-nigerians-in-the-dark-on-ambassadors/

Somebody who took 6 months to appoint ministers. Anybody who's waiting for Buhari to change will wait till astronauts find water on the sun

All thanks to COVID 19

“So, if other countries are posting ambassadors despite COVID-19, why should Nige­ria’s own be different? The suspense is becoming un­bearable.” Zoneb, use your brain

helinues:
All thanks to COVID 19

Country that's on Autopilot... I laugh una..... You people should seek for something else to do. Buhari hardly makes appointment or sack people... That man is something else

nairavsdollars:
“So, if other countries are posting ambassadors despite COVID-19, why should Nige­ria’s own be different? The suspense is becoming un­bearable.” Zoneb, use your brain

Tell them to go and apply for attendance job at any fuel filling station...

It's not that those who are currently occupying the position have vacated

Are those countries listed in the same league with Nigeria?

Hian

Baba is not aware

“We are talking of em­barrassments like failure of the embassies to pay house rents; landlords threatening to throw their things out; lack of equipment to work with and so on. The president wants to put a stop to it and that is one of the reasons for the delay".

Why not just close the embassies instead of embarrassing yourself?

Country is on autopilot.. Baba don forget say he even appointed ambassadors. Anyways who ambassadors help in dis covid 1-9 era

And Nigerians abroad will continue to have their rights trampled

Nbotee:
Country is on autopilot.. Baba don forget say he even appointed ambassadors. Anyways who ambassadors help in dis covid 1-9 era

Buhari is not in control

The many power blocs that rules Nigeria are still fighting

Whoever wins determines what will happen in this particular disgrace

However, expect a lie for Lai or Adesina or Garba soon

nairavsdollars:
And Nigerians abroad will continue to have their rights trampled

And before were their rights not being trampled? How many of our embassies are actually looking for Nigerians outside the shores of dis country?

Agreed. Truth be told, Buhari is not in charge of affairs

Nbotee:


And before were their rights not being trampled? How many of our embassies are actually looking for Nigerians outside the shores of dis country?

They are still coallating the northern names

On how to sing our National anthem lol

Abouwaza:
They are still coallating the northern names

Look at the names. Already dominated by north

Abouwaza:
They are still coallating the northern names

The list is already published. Why are they fighting again?

sapientia:
Buhari is not in control

The many power blocs that rules Nigeria are still fighting

Whoever wins determines what will happen in this particular disgrace

However, expect a lie for Lai or Adesina or Garba soon