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From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and some envoys have opened up on the ambassadorial lists released by President Bola Tinubu, saying he merely exercised his prerogative.
The names, which were announced in two separate lists, had three and 32 on the individual list, making a total of 35 names.
Some of the nominees whose names were forwarded to the Senate last week for screening and confirmation were a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ayodele Oke; a former National Security Adviser, Colonel Kayode Are (retd) and a former Nigerian Ambassador to South Korea, Amin Mohammed Dalhatu.
Others were the Chairman/Publisher of The Sun Newspaper, Neya Kalu; a former presidential aide, Reno Omokri and former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmud Yakubu, among others.
The transmission of the lists to the National Assembly is coming almost three years after Tinubu assumed office.
The minister and the envoys were specifically asked to comment on the calibre of people on the list and if it was worth the waiting.
Other questions raised were that people believe some of the nominees would do more harm to the country than good as they have an image problem. The issue of the 70/30 percent ratio on appointment of ambassadors also cropped up and how the nation can avoid a repeat of a situation whereby a president stays in office for close to three years without ambassadors.
The former minister, in a WhatsApp chat, said: “The president is merely exercising his prerogative.”
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Former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bulus Lolo, aligned with the former minister, saying Nigerians must first and foremost recognise that they are in a democracy.
“That is the number one thing; that we are in a democracy and secondly, the appointment of ambassadors is the prerogative of the president of Nigeria to appoint whoever he or she wants.”
Lolo also said President Tinubu reserved the right constitutionally to appoint ambassadors.
Lolo, former Nigerian Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia with concurrent accreditation to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), further said in the appointment of ambassadors that nobody would disclose the criteria deployed in the selection process, rather what the President would want them to do for him outside the country and for the country.
“So, the calibre of those people you see and if there is a greater mix of politicians than career people, again, goes back to say that the government has some IOUs to settle, persons who may have played a part or who will play a part subsequently in the administration.”
Lolo advised that a holistic assessment of the ambassadorial list can be done only when the final list has been released.
“We have less than 40 appointees so far and there are, of course, I believe we have more than 70, missions at ambassadorial rank. So, let’s wait and see what will follow and it is too early to speculate. It is the beginning of the process,” Lolo stated.
A top source within the diplomatic cycle, who also aligned with the issue of the prerogative of the President to appoint ambassadors, however, told Daily Sun that since the current political dispensation, the issue of 70/30 percent ratio on appointment of ambassadors had never been followed.
