Senate confirms 45 ambassadorial nominees, drops two

Saraki

Senate President, Bukola Saraki
Leke Baiyewu , Abuja
The Senate on Thursday approved the nomination of 45 of the 47 non -career ambassadorial nominees sent to it for legislative confirmation by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The rejection of two of the nominees was based on the recommendation of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs .
The rejected nominees are 82 -year - old Justice Sylvanus Nsofor ( retd .) from Imo State and 59- year - old Mr. Jacob Daodu from Ondo State.
Those confirmed were Dr. Uzoma Ememke ( Abia ) , Aminu Iyawa ( Adamawa ) , Maj. -Gen . Godwin Umo ( retd. ) ( Akwa Ibom ) , Christopher Okeke ( Anambra ) , Yusuf Tuggar ( Bauchi) , Baba Madugu ( Bauchi) , Brig .- Gen . Stanley Diriyai ( Bayelsa ) , Steven Ugba ( Benue) , Ahmad Jidda ( Borno ) and Dr. Etubom Asuquo ( Cross River ) .
Also on the list are Francis Efeduma ( Delta ) , Jonah Odo ( Ebonyi) , Uyagwe Igbe ( Edo ) , Ayodele Ayodeji ( replaced with Eniola Ajayi ) ( Ekiti) , Maj. - Gen . Chris Eze ( retd.) ( Enugu ) , Suleiman Hassan ( Gombe ) , Justice Sylvanus Nsofor ( Imo ) , Muhammad Dalhatu ( Jigawa) , Ahmed Bamalli ( Kaduna ) , Deborah Iliya ( Kaduna ) , Prof. D . Abdulkadir ( Kano) , Haruna Ungogo ( Kano ) , Justice lsa Dodo ( Katsina) , Muhammadu Barade ( Katsina) , Tijjani Bande ( Kebbi ) , Prof . Y . O . Aliu ( Kogi ) and Nuruddeen Mohamed ( Kwara ) .
Others are Mohamed Yisa ( Kwara) , Justice George Oguntade ( retd. ) ( Lagos) , Modupe Irele ( Lagos) , Musa Muhammad ( Nasarawa) , Ahmed Ibeto ( Niger) , Ade Asekun ( Ogun ) , Suzanne Folarin ( Ogun ) , Afolahan Adeyemi ( Osun ) , Maj. - Gen . Ashimiyu Olaniyi ( retd .) ( Oyo ) , James Dimka ( Plateau) , and Dr. Haruna Abdullahi ( Plateau) .
Also confirmed were Orji Ngofa ( Rivers) , Sahabi Gada ( Sokoto ) , Kabiru Umar ( Sokoto ) , Hassan Ardo ( Taraba ) , Goni Bura ( Yobe ) , Garba Gajam ( Zamfara) and Bala Mairiga ( Zamfara) .
Chairman of the senate committee , Senator Monsurat Sunmonu , while presenting the report , said Nsofor was not rejected due to his age but based on his performance when he was screened .
She added that Daodu ’ s rejection was based on a report by the Department of State Services which disqualified him .
On Daodu , the committee said , “Although the nominee has acquired experience from his previous workplaces , his responses during the screening exercise did not have direct bearing on the issues raised and did not satisfy the committee’s expectation . Besides, there is an adverse report on the nominee ’s suitability for appointment as an ambassador . ”
On Nsofor , the committee said , “The nominee has served mostly in the academics and the legal profession, both here in Nigeria and abroad. Although he was calm at the screening , he looked frail and tired . His responses to the issues raised were either not answered or devoid of details and mostly satirical. ”
President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, who presided over the plenary , asked Sunmonu of what the committee meant by ‘adverse report ’ in the case of Daodu .
The lawmaker replied that the DSS report on the nominee indicted him as allegedly corrupt.
Quoting the security report in part , Sunmonu said , “Contacts described him as resourceful and endowed with knowledge . However, security checks revealed that the subject was deceitful , indulged in corrupt and immoral practices while in office as Chairman and CEO of Ondo State Agency for Road Maintenance as well as Ondo State commissioner .”