ABUJA, Nigeria — President Bola Tinubu has forwarded the names of 32 new ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, expanding the list of envoys he began transmitting earlier in the week.
This second batch includes 15 career ambassadors and 17 non-career ambassadors, representing one of the most extensive diplomatic nomination rounds in recent years.
The president’s request was conveyed in two separate letters addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who read them aloud during plenary on Friday, November 28, 2025,
Tinubu urged the Senate to “consider and confirm expeditiously” the nominees. The list features ten women—four career and six non-career.
Among the non-career nominees are several prominent figures: Ogbonnaya Kalu from Abia, a former presidential aide; Reno Omokri from Delta; former INEC chairman Mahmud Yakubu; former Ekiti First Lady, Erelu Angela Adebayo; and former Enugu governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
Also nominated are Tasiu Musa Maigari, former speaker of the Katsina State House of Assembly; Yakubu N. Gambo, former Plateau State commissioner and former UBEC deputy executive secretary; Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, a former senator from Plateau; Otunba Femi Pedro, former deputy governor of Lagos; former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode; and Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu from Anambra.
Others on the non-career list include Fatima Florence Ajimobi, former First Lady of Oyo State; former Lagos commissioner Lola Akande; former Adamawa senator Grace Bent; former Abia governor Victor Okezie Ikpeazu; and Jimoh Ibrahim, businessman, lawyer and senator from Ondo.
Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu, former envoy to the Holy See, also made the list.
The career ambassador and high commissioner-designates include:
Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu (Abia), Yakubu Nyaku Danladi (Taraba), Maimuna Ibrahim Besto (Adamawa), Musa Musa Abubakar (Kebbi), Syndoph Paebi Endoni (Bayelsa), Chima Geoffrey Lioma David (Ebonyi), Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun), Abimbola Samuel Reuben (Ondo), Yvonne Ehinosen Odumah (Edo), Hamza Mohammed Salau (Niger), Ambassador Shehu Barde (Katsina), Ambassador Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno), Ambassador Muhammad Saidu Dahiru (Kaduna), Ambassador Olatunji Ahmed Sulu Gambari (Kwara), and Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande (Osun).
The nominees are expected to be deployed to key diplomatic postings in countries with which Nigeria maintains strategic partnerships, including China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, and Kenya.
Others will serve in permanent missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union.
Their specific postings will be determined once the Senate confirms their appointments.
This submission follows the president’s nomination last week of three non-career ambassadors—Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun).
The trio is being considered for high-profile postings in the United Kingdom, the United States, or France.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said additional names will be announced soon as Tinubu completes his diplomatic reshuffling.
