President Bola Tinubu has unveiled three non-career ambassadors to represent Nigeria in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, signalling a renewed push to fill key diplomatic positions in major global capitals.
In a statement shared on X by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President named Ayodele Oke, Colonel Lateef Are (rtd.), and Amin Dalhatu as his nominees. Their postings will be confirmed after Senate approval.
Amin Dalhatu, one of the nominees, previously served as Nigeria’s ambassador to South Korea during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ayodele Oke, an alumnus of Emory University in Atlanta, is a former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and once served as Nigeria’s ambassador to the Secretariat of the Commonwealth of Nations in London.
Colonel Lateef Are (rtd.) brings an extensive security background to the list, having headed the State Security Service (SSS) between 1999 and 2007. He later became National Security Adviser in 2010 and is a First-Class graduate of Psychology from the University of Ibadan.
The President formally transmitted their names to the Senate on Wednesday, and Senate President Godswill Akpabio read the communication during plenary.
Following the announcement, Akpabio mandated the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs to scrutinise the nominees and submit its report within a week.
Pressure had mounted on the administration to fill vacant ambassadorial positions. Former External Affairs Minister Bolaji Akinyemi had argued that despite digital access to information, diplomacy still depends on personal engagement between ambassadors and their host governments.
He emphasised that Nigeria “must fill the vacant posts,” noting that ambassadorial presence remains central to effective foreign relations.
However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously countered criticisms over delays, insisting Nigeria’s missions were still functioning efficiently under seasoned chargé d’affaires pending new appointments. The ministry attributed gaps in postings to long-standing structural and funding issues that stretch beyond the current administration.
All Nigerian ambassadors were recalled by President Tinubu in September 2023, leaving several key missions without substantive envoys until now.
