President Tinubu nominates non-career; appoints ambassadors
President Bola Tinubu has nominated three non-career ambassadors to represent Nigeria in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.
According to a statement issued by presidential media aide Bayo Onanuga, the nominees will formally assume their postings after Senate screening. The individuals selected are Ambassador Ayodele Oke, Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are, and Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu.
Onanuga noted that Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu previously served as Nigeria’s envoy to South Korea under former President Muhammadu Buhari, following his initial appointment in 2016.
Ambassador Ayodele Oke, a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta, is a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and also served as Nigeria’s ambassador to the Secretariat of the Commonwealth of Nations in London.
Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are was Director General of the State Security Service (SSS) from 1999 to 2007, served as National Security Adviser in 2010, and was an officer in the Directorate of Military Intelligence. He graduated with First Class Honours in Psychology from the University of Ibadan in 1980.
This is the first ambassadorial nomination President Tinubu will be making since assuming office in May 2023. The nomination list has been sent to the Senate for screening.