Former Senate Leader Ali Ndume has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to immediately withdraw the newly submitted list of 65 ambassadorial nominees, warning that its current composition violates the Federal Character principle and risks deepening ethnic tensions in the country.
Ndume’s intervention comes ahead of Senate screening and confirmation of the nominees, whose names were formally read on the floor by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Thursday and referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs for further legislative action.
A breakdown of the list shows that, while some states have as many as three or four nominees, Gombe State has none. For Yobe State, the only nominee, Senator Adamu Garba Talba, died in July, leaving the state without representation. The North-East, where the senator is from, has a total of seven nominees, the South-West has 15, the North-West 13, the South-East nine, the North-Central 10, and the South-South 12.
Ndume, who represents Borno South, said the distribution falls short of the requirements of Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates that appointments into federal offices must reflect Nigeria’s diversity to promote unity and prevent dominance by any section.
Quoting the constitutional provision, he recalled, “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.”
The former Chief Whip warned that proceeding with the list in its current form could fuel distrust at a time the country faces heightened scrutiny both locally and from international actors.
He said, “My sincere appeal to President Tinubu is to withdraw this list. At this critical time in the life of his administration, he should avoid missteps that could endanger national unity and promote ethnic distrust.”
Ndume noted that the president has, in the past, demonstrated a cosmopolitan and inclusive approach to governance and urged him to maintain that standard.
“I know him to be a cosmopolitan leader who is at home with every segment and stakeholder in the country,” he said.
“He should withdraw that list and present a fresh set of nominees that will align with the spirit of the Constitution on the Federal Character Principle, that the government’s structure and operations must represent the diverse states and peoples of Nigeria.”
