The senator representing Borno South, Senator Ali Ndume, on Sunday faulted the composition of President Bola Tinubu’s ambassadorial nominees, describing the list as lopsided and in breach of the federal character principle.
Ndume, who expressed his reservation at a press conference in Abuja, said the Senate would formally convey its observations to the President.
The Borno federal lawmaker also explained why he ultimately joined his colleagues on the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs to screen the nominees, despite earlier urging President Tinubu to withdraw the list over concerns of imbalance.
The senator had, on the eve of the screening, warned that the nominations violated Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates that the composition of the Federal Government must reflect the federal character of Nigeria to promote national unity and loyalty.
He specifically pointed to the exclusion of states such as Gombe and Yobe from the current nominations.
Addressing journalists on Sunday, Ndume said he was persuaded by his colleagues not to boycott the screening after receiving assurances that the committee’s concerns would be captured in its report to the President.
According to him, while the committee agreed to proceed with the screening in the interest of legislative responsibility, it also resolved to formally advise the President to correct the observed imbalance in the remaining nominations.
He said, “I still maintain that the list is lopsided. At the committee level, I raised a constitutional order at the committee meeting and we agreed that we will continue with the screening.
“But in our report, we will tell the President that the composition of the remaining list should be balanced to address our concerns on breach of federal character principles as enshrined in our Constitution.”
Ndume stressed that states left out of the present list should be accommodated in the final batch of nominees to be transmitted to the Senate for screening and confirmation.
He added, “We have 109 missions. For the non-career ambassadors, each state should have one to balance it because states like Gombe and Yobe were not captured, while some states have only career ambassadors, which are more or less non-political ambassadors.
“Each state should have two or three ambassadors, and each state should have at least one career ambassador since we have 109 embassies, which consist of 76 embassies, 22 high commissions, and 11 consulates.
“This can accommodate three ambassadors per state, non-career and career. That will address the issue of lopsidedness and breach of Section 14(3) of the Constitution. Don’t forget that we have 194 countries in the world.”
Ndume’s latest comments come just four days after he clashed with Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) during the screening of ambassadorial nominees, an encounter that underscored the heightened tensions surrounding President Tinubu’s list.
The confrontation occurred on the second day of the screening of 65 career and non-career ambassadorial nominees submitted to the Senate last week.
Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, whose nomination was under consideration, sat silently in Room 301 of the Senate complex as the disagreement unfolded.
Trouble began after Omokri’s batch of nominees completed their self-introduction to the committee. Ndume made a motion that the nominees be allowed to take a bow and exit the venue.
The motion, however, was opposed by some senators, including Oshiomhole, who indicated they had comments to make on Omokri’s nomination.
Although the committee chairman, Senator Sani Bello, invited Oshiomhole to speak, Ndume insisted that his motion must first be seconded before any further interventions.
Oshiomhole, however, proceeded with his remarks, triggering a tense procedural and political exchange that briefly disrupted the screening exercise.
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