5 ambassadorial nominees haunted by controversies

As the Senate prepares to display President Bola Tinubu’s ambassadorial nominees, consideration is shifting to these whose controversies might weigh on their illustration of the nation abroad.

After almost two years with out substantive envoys after recollects from the nation’s 109 international missions, President Tinubu on Sunday, November 26, despatched three names to the Senate as ambassador-designates.

Final Saturday, the President adopted up with one other record containing 32 names.

On Thursday, he transmitted a letter to the Senate updating the record to 65 nominees.

In accordance with the letter, 34 individuals had been nominated as profession ambassadors and excessive commissioners, whereas 31 others had been nominated as non-career ambassadors and excessive commissioners.

Within the letter, Tinubu urged the Senate to offer swift consideration to the nominees to assist fill key diplomatic positions.

The President’s letter was learn at plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who stated Tinubu requested lawmakers to offer the nominations pressing consideration.

He referred the record to the Senate Committee on International Affairs, directing the committee to display the nominees and report again inside one week.

Nevertheless, the President has come beneath heavy criticism over the composition of the record.

Opposition events, civil society teams, and several other Nigerians have accused some nominees of getting severe integrity and accountability considerations.

The Peoples Democratic Party, African Democratic Congress and New Nigeria Peoples Party, notably, accused President Tinubu of utilizing strategic diplomatic postings to reward political allies and controversial figures.

They particularly criticised the nomination of former Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, calling it “scandalous.”

Sunday PidomNigeria has shortlisted 5 nominees with such controversies:

Ayodele Oke

Oke, a former Director-Basic of the Nationwide Intelligence Company, is one in all Tinubu’s ambassadorial nominees dealing with integrity considerations.

In 2019, The PidomNigeria reported that the EFCC declared Oke and his spouse, Folasade, wished for failing to seem in court docket to reply N13bn money-laundering fees towards them.

The couple had reportedly travelled overseas for medical remedy in late January, shortly earlier than their scheduled arraignment.

Justice Chukwujeku Aneke of the Federal Excessive Court docket, Lagos, issued an arrest warrant towards the couple on February 7, 2019, following an oral software by EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo.

An announcement by the then EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade, famous that Oke and his spouse had been wished in reference to $43m, £27,800, and N23.8m recovered by the fee from an residence on Osborne Street, Ikoyi, Lagos, in April 2017.

Beneath Oke’s management, the NIA was stated to have collected $289,202,382 in money for particular operations from the account of the Nationwide Petroleum Funding Administration Providers on the Central Bank of Nigeria in February 2015.

The company claimed the funds had been for covert intelligence operations, however the Federal Authorities maintained it was a case of looting.

The FG subsequently arrange a three-man panel headed by former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, which indicted Oke and beneficial his dismissal.

Prison fees had been filed towards him and his spouse over the money discovered on the Ikoyi residence.

Nevertheless, the EFCC later withdrew the costs on grounds of nationwide safety.

New fees had been filed in February 2025, however there was no profitable arraignment as each husband and spouse had left the nation.

Ibok-Ete Ibas

Ibas, a retired Vice Admiral, served because the Sole Administrator of Rivers State from March to September 2025.

He was accused of mismanaging N283bn throughout his transient tenure.

In October, the ICPC confirmed receiving a petition demanding a probe into the dealing with of Rivers State federal allocations by Ibas.

The ICPC spokesperson, Demola Bakare, stated the petition had been forwarded to the fee’s authorized division for evaluation.

“Sure, we have now obtained the petition and can take a look at its benefit. It has a course of. We obtain it on the registry, the chairman will get it, and he forwards it for a authorized opinion,” he stated.

The petition, filed by civil rights activist and lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, was titled, ‘Petition for the Investigation into the Monetary Expenditure of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (retd.), Former Sole Administrator of Rivers State.’

Adeyanju urged the ICPC to urgently examine Ibas’s monetary actions throughout his administration between March 18 and September 17, 2025.

Additionally, the Rivers State Home of Meeting stated it could examine the state expenditure through the six months of emergency rule.

The meeting disclosed this throughout its first plenary after the tip of emergency rule.

This was whilst Civil Society Organisations and Rivers elders demanded accountability from Ibas over the cash the state obtained from the Federation Account Allocation Committee.

However, reacting, Ibas stated the lawmakers lacked the ability to research him, stating that they didn’t appoint him because the administrator of the state.

He described the lawmakers’ resolve as commentary, including that the try to probe the previous administrator was tantamount to probing the President, who appointed him, in addition to the Nationwide Meeting, which supervised the actions of Ibas because the state administrator, as he then was.

Okezie Ikpeazu

Okezie Ikpeazu served as governor of Abia State from 2015 to 2023 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. He defected to the All Progressives Congress in April 2024.

In 2024, an audit report by KPMG Worldwide Nigeria Restricted indicted Ikpeazu for allegedly diverting N1.9tn from the state’s treasury throughout his tenure.

In accordance with Premium Occasions, incumbent Governor Alex Otti commissioned the agency to audit the state authorities’s funds between Might 29, 2015, and Might 28, 2023.

The 359-page forensic audit report, titled, ‘Last Report: Provision of Course of Assessment Providers to Abia State Authorities’, indicted Ikpeazu for mismanaging the state’s funds.

Funds allegedly mismanaged included funds for non-existent initiatives, loans launched with out acknowledged function, unremitted internally generated income, unlawful deductions, funds made earlier than approval, and allocations or withdrawals missing supporting paperwork or vouchers.

The report acknowledged that the alleged unlawful actions violated numerous sections of state legal guidelines and authorities mandates, together with the Abia State Public Procurement Regulation 2012 and the Abia State Monetary Laws (as amended in 2001).

The Commissioner for Info in Abia State, Okey Kanu, disclosed in June 2024 that the state authorities had handed over a duplicate of the report back to the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee for potential prosecution.

Reno Omokri

Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, was some of the vocal critics of President Tinubu through the 2023 election cycle earlier than out of the blue switching his political stance.

Throughout the 2023 marketing campaign, Omokri advised Come up TV that Tinubu was a drug lord.

“I’ve info to again this up, I’ve paperwork to again it up. I spent my cash, went to Chicago, went to court docket, and received licensed true copies to show that Bola Tinubu is a drug lord,” he stated.

In 2022, Omokri led a protest towards Tinubu on the Chatham Home in the UK.

In 2023, throughout an interview with Channels TV, Omokri dominated out ever working with Tinubu.

“I can’t do it. It’s simply towards my ideas. Some individuals can do this, however it’s not in my DNA. It’s by no means going to occur. I want Bola Tinubu properly, however I can by no means work with him,” he stated.

Omokri’s nomination might face further hurdles following a petition submitted to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and different senators by a former mayor of Blanco Metropolis, Texas, in america, Mike Arnold.

Within the petition shared on his X deal with, Arnold described Omokri as a “hazard” to Nigeria, warning that if appointed as an envoy, he would de-market the nation.

“Don’t let this man carry your flag. He’ll embarrass you on the world stage inside six months,” Arnold stated.

Femi Fani-Kayode

Recognized for making controversial statements, the previous Minister of Aviation was one of many ardent critics of Tinubu earlier than he defected to the ruling get together in 2021.

Recognized for his eloquence, Fani-Kayode additionally falls into the class of controversial politicians. As a member of the PDP, Fani-Kayode was a vocal critic of President Tinubu and the APC.

“I’m dedicated to opposing the APC and people which are of their ranks for the remainder of my pure life, and I’ll by no means be a part of them it doesn’t matter what! They’re nothing however darkness while I stand for the sunshine of God and reality: there will be no fellowship between gentle and darkness,” he tweeted on December 15, 2019.

Fani-Kayode didn’t restrict his verbal assaults to the APC.

He described Tinubu as a person with “dangerous well being and all the time on medicine” on his Fb web page on March 4, 2015.

He additionally described Tinubu as the most important traitor ever recognized in Nigeria.

In an announcement on March 18, 2015, Fani-Kayode stated, “He (Tinubu) has betrayed each single person who he has labored with and he has thrown them to the canine on the final minute for a worth. Throughout the days of NADECO, he betrayed the trigger by colluding with the federal government of the day secretly whereas pretending to be a NADECO chief.

“The reality is that this man has not solely bought his soul to the satan however he has additionally bought his followers for a pittance and he’s main them into perdition. He desires to purchase and promote Nigeria too, and it’s time for any person to inform him that Nigeria shouldn’t be on the market. That is what Chief Fani-Kayode and others are within the technique of doing.”

Fani-Kayode has confronted legal prosecution, corruption fees, and trials spanning 4 main circumstances and appeals by the EFCC during the last 18 years, however he was acquitted of all fees.

No petition towards nominees but – Senate

In the meantime, the Senate stated it had not but obtained any petition towards any nominees.

The Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, in an interview with Sunday PidomNigeria on Thursday, defined that whereas there had been public considerations, the Senate might solely act on written petitions submitted by correct channels.

Adaramodu famous that the screening of nominees had been referred to the Senate Committee on International Affairs, which had one week to hold out its tasks.

“As of now, we have now not obtained any petition towards any nominee. The record was simply learn as we speak (Thursday). If there may be going to be any petition, we consider the committee will go it to the Senate,” Adaramodu stated.

He emphasised that the committee’s work was solely the primary stage, as the total Senate would nonetheless query every nominee earlier than taking a remaining place.

Adaramodu added that the Senate had the ability to reject any nominee discovered unfit for the position through the screening course of.

“After the committee screening, the committee will current its report back to plenary, after which the entire Senate will think about the report.

“On the committee degree, the nominees’ screening shouldn’t be remaining. The Senate, on the bigger home, has the ability to uphold, reject, or amend the committee’s findings,” he added.

Adaramodu confused that the Senate wouldn’t hesitate to behave on credible allegations or petitions introduced towards any candidate.

“It’s the obligation of the committee of the entire, led by the Senate President as chairman, to uphold, reject, or maintain the committee on International Affairs’ report,” Adaramodu added.

Ndume, ex-envoys, PDP, CSO fault record

The Senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, on Saturday, rejected the ambassadorial nominees, insisting the record breached the federal character precept and needs to be withdrawn forward of subsequent week’s Senate screening.

Ndume, a former Senate Chief and Chief Whip, stated the allocation of nominees to states and geopolitical zones falls in need of the constitutional provision that mandates honest illustration within the composition and conduct of the Federal Authorities.

Ndume, in an announcement in Abuja, warned that permitting the record to go might deepen ethnic suspicion at a time when the administration needs to be working to consolidate nationwide unity.

The lawmaker identified disparities within the unfold of nominees, alleging that whereas some states had three to 4 slots, whereas others had none.

He additionally cited the inclusion of Senator Adamu Garba Talba from Yobe, who reportedly died earlier in July.

“The whole North-East state has seven nominees within the record. Additional checks revealed that the South-West geo-political zone has 15 nominees whereas North-West and South-East have 13 and 9, respectively.

“North-Central area has 10 nominees within the record of profession and non-career ambassadorial nominees whereas South-South parades 12 nominees,” he lamented.

Warning that the imbalance might heighten rigidity, Ndume urged the President to evaluation the nominations, saying such an imbalance undermined the spirit of Part 14(3) of the Structure.

Additionally, talking on the record, a former Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines, Yemi Faronbi, stated the lengthy delay in naming ambassadors mirrored a lack of know-how by the Presidency of the vital position envoys play in advancing Nigeria’s pursuits overseas.

Faronbi criticised the heavy reliance on political appointees over profession diplomats, who, he stated, are higher skilled and skilled in worldwide relations.

“I might have thought, and I’ve all the time argued, that we would have liked extra profession ambassadors after we are doing postings. They’re very properly skilled in diplomacy, in worldwide relations, and so they have been uncovered to financial, safety, and consular work. So, they’re all the time in a greater place to interface with their host nation,” he stated.

Faronbi added that political appointments needs to be restricted to particular challenges, equivalent to commerce, financial, or political points, reasonably than as a reward for get together loyalty.

“In Nigeria, ambassadorial posts are seen as a reward for being a celebration member or for having helped the president or get together chief. That’s as a result of we neglect that those that assist us win elections can’t essentially assist us run authorities,” Faronbi famous.

He questioned the suitability of a number of nominees, together with the previous INEC chairman, saying they lacked the expertise and experience of earlier envoys.

He added that appointing people and not using a broad understanding of Nigeria or the mandatory temperament undermines the dignity of the workplace.

Faronbi additionally expressed concern over the velocity of the Senate screening course of, warning that it dangers approving nominees with out correct scrutiny.

“They are saying it will likely be finished inside one week. So, it’s rubbish in, rubbish out. I feel it’s a little unlucky,” he stated.

Reacting to considerations about whether or not nominees like Femi Fani-Kayode and Reno Omokri had been suited to symbolize Nigeria globally, a former Nigerian Consul to Cameroon and ex-Director of Commerce and Funding on the Ministry of International Affairs, Amb. Rasheed Akinkuolie, stated political ambassadorial appointments had been fully on the discretion of the President.

In accordance with him, a presidential nomination isn’t the ultimate step.

Past Senate affirmation, each ambassador-designate should even be accepted by the receiving nation, which conducts its personal background checks.

“Rejections do happen if there are petitions by civil society teams or people of the sending state towards a candidate,” he stated.

Akinkuolie added that non-career ambassadors usually depend on the expertise of profession diplomats stationed on the mission.

In accordance with him, seasoned officers present the technical spine of Nigeria’s international engagement, whereas political appointees give attention to ceremonial and representational duties.

“Discreet and wise political ambassadors give leeway to the profession officers, who’re extremely skilled and have been on the job for many years, to run the mission,” he stated. “The political ambassador stays within the background to attend cocktails and different ceremonies.”

On his half, the Government Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran, referred to as on the EFCC, ICPC, and Division of State Providers to flag any nominee with unresolved corruption circumstances earlier than appointment.

Adeniran, in an interview with Sunday PidomNigeria, additionally urged receiving nations to conduct due diligence and reject candidates with questionable backgrounds.

He expressed frustration with the present course of, noting that residents had restricted enter and that political concerns usually outweighed benefit.

Additionally reacting, the Nationwide Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Ini Ememobong, criticised the nomination of Ibas, warning that granting diplomatic energy to nominees whose pasts stay clouded by unresolved allegations might undermine public belief and ship flawed sign concerning the administration’s priorities.

“At a time when the nation is dealing with severe challenges, we want nominees whose information exhibit competence, dedication to public service, and capability to symbolize Nigeria credibly overseas. But, the record consists of people described by titles equivalent to ‘former First Girl’ reasonably than by skilled achievements, which is each irritating and unacceptable,” he stated.