President Bola Tinubu has nominated three non-career diplomats to serve as Nigeria’s ambassadors to the United States, the United Kingdom and France. The nominees Ayodele Oke, Colonel Lateef Are (retd.), and Amin Dalhatu have been forwarded to the Senate for screening and confirmation.
The nominations were announced on Wednesday by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who said the postings would be concluded once the Senate completes its review. Dalhatu previously served as Nigeria’s ambassador to South Korea under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Oke, a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and alumnus of Emory University, once represented Nigeria at the Secretariat of the Commonwealth of Nations in London. Colonel Are, a former Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), also served as National Security Adviser in 2010 and holds a First-Class degree in Psychology from the University of Ibadan.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio read Tinubu’s nomination letter during plenary and directed the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs to screen the nominees and report back within a week.
The new appointments come amid calls for the President to fill vacant ambassadorial positions to strengthen Nigeria’s diplomatic presence abroad. Former External Affairs Minister Bolaji Akinyemi had recently stressed the importance of ambassadorial representation, noting that effective diplomacy relies on personal engagement between governments and their envoys.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while addressing earlier criticism over delays in appointments, said Nigerian missions have remained functional under experienced chargé d’affaires despite long-standing structural and funding constraints.
Tinubu recalled all ambassadors in September 2023, leading to several key diplomatic postings remaining vacant until now.
