President Bola Tinubu has forwarded to the Senate a request for the confirmation of 65 ambassadorial nominees, made up of 34 career diplomats and 31 non-career ambassadors and high commissioners.
The request was contained in a letter read on the floor of the Senate by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary.
The non-career nominees include several prominent political figures such as former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu; former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode; former Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu; and former presidential aide, Reno Omokri.
Others on the list are Senator Ita Enang; former Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; Chioma Ohakim; Bello Danbazau; retired Vice Admiral Ibok Ete; and Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, among others.
Both the career and non-career lists have been referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, which has been mandated to conduct the screening exercise and report back to the upper chamber within one week.
With the addition of the new 65 nominees, the total number of ambassadorial candidates currently before the Senate stands at 68. Three of them — Kayode Are, Aminu Dalhatu, and Ayodele Oke — have already been screened by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.