As the Senate prepares to screen President Bola Tinubu’s ambassadorial nominees, there has been outrage over some of the appointments due to ongoing controversies and past remarks.
Recall that Tinubu on Sunday, November 26, sent three names to the Senate as ambassador-designates, followed up with another list containing 32 names, and later transmitted a letter to the Senate updating the list to 65 nominees.
According to the letter, 34 persons were nominated as career ambassadors and high commissioners, while 31 others were nominated as non-career ambassadors and high commissioners.
In the letter, Tinubu urged the Senate to give swift consideration to the nominees to help fill key diplomatic positions.
The Tinubu’s letter was read at plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who said the President asked lawmakers to give the nominations urgent consideration.
He referred the list to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, directing the committee to screen the nominees and report back within one week.
However, the opposition parties, civil society groups, and several Nigerians have criticised Tinubu over the composition of the list, accusing him of using strategic diplomatic postings to reward political allies and controversial figures.
In this article, Naijaonpoint highlights five ambassadorial nominees embroiled in controversies.
1. Reno Omokri: Former presidential aide cum social media critic, Reno Omokri, was one of the most vocal critics of Tinubu during the 2023 election cycle before suddenly switching his political stance.
During the 2023 campaign, Omokri claimed in an interview on Arise Television that Tinubu was a drug lord.
He said, “I have facts to back this up, I have documents to back it up. I spent my money, went to Chicago, went to court, and got certified true copies to prove that Bola Tinubu is a drug lord.”
In 2023, Omokri, during an interview with Nigerian journalist, Seun Okibaloye, on the ‘Mic On’ podcast, ruled out the possibility of working with Tinubu.
He stated, “I cannot do it. It is just against my principles. Some people can do that, but it is not in my DNA. It is never going to happen. I wish Bola Tinubu well, but I can never work with him.”
Reno Omokri
2. Ibok-Ete Ibas: The retired Vice Admiral, who served as the Sole Administrator of Rivers State from March to September 2025, was accused of mismanaging ₦283 billion during the state of emergency in the state.
In October, Nigeria’s Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) confirmed receiving a petition demanding a probe into Ibas’s handling of federal allocations to Rivers State.
The ICPC spokesperson, Demola Bakare, said the petition had been forwarded to the commission’s legal department for review.
He said, “Yes, we have received the petition and will look at its merit. It has a process. We receive it at the registry, the chairman gets it, and he forwards it for a legal opinion.”
Similarly, the Rivers State House of Assembly said it would investigate the state’s expenditure during the six months of Ibas’s emergency rule.
The assembly disclosed this during its first plenary after the end of emergency rule, but Ibas said the lawmakers lacked the power to investigate him, noting that they had not appointed him as the state’s administrator.
Ibot-Ete-Ibas
3. Mahmood Yakubu: Many Nigerians have criticised the nomination of former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, calling it “scandalous.”
Many opposition parties and Nigerians pointed to the discrepancies in the 2023 presidential election and alleged rigging in favour of Tinubu, stressing it is a political reward.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, also stated that Yakubu’s nomination sends the wrong message to the current INEC leadership that partisan, compromised, or poorly executed elections may ultimately be rewarded.
He said, “Such a nomination raises serious concerns. It risks appearing as a quid pro quo rather than a recognition of merit. It presents terrible optics for an administration already struggling with credibility. It sends the wrong message to the current
@inecnigeria leadership, that partisan, compromised, or poorly executed elections may ultimately be rewarded.
4. Okezie Ikpeazu: In 2024, an audit report by KPMG International Nigeria Limited indicted the former Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, for allegedly diverting ₦1.9 trillion from the state’s treasury during his tenure.
According to Premium Times, the incumbent Governor, Alex Otti, commissioned the firm to audit the state government’s finances from May 29, 2015, to May 28, 2023.
The 359-page forensic audit report, titled, ‘Final Report: Provision of Process Review Services to Abia State Government’, indicted Ikpeazu for mismanaging the state’s funds.
Funds allegedly mismanaged included payments for non-existent projects, loans released without stated purpose, unremitted internally generated revenue, illegal deductions, payments made before approval, and allocations or withdrawals lacking supporting documents or vouchers.
The report stated that the alleged illegal activities violated various sections of state laws and government mandates, including the Abia State Public Procurement Law 2012 and the Abia State Financial Regulations (as amended in 2001).
The Commissioner for Information in Abia State, Okey Kanu, disclosed in June 2024 that the state government had handed over a copy of the report to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for possible prosecution.
5. Femi Fani-Kayode: On December 15, 2019, Femi Fani-Kayode, popularly known for making controversial statements, described the All Progressives Congress (APC) as darkness and vowed never to join them.
In ... via his 𝕏 handle, he wrote, “I am committed to opposing the APC and those that are in their ranks for the rest of my natural life, and I will never join them no matter what! They are nothing but darkness whilst I stand for the light of God and truth: there can be no fellowship between light and darkness.”
Also, in a post via his Facebook page on March 4, 2015, Fani-Kayode described Tinubu as a man with “bad health and always on drugs”, stressing that the President is the biggest traitor ever known in Nigeria.
In a statement on March 18, 2015, Fani-Kayode said, “He (Tinubu) has betrayed every single person that he has worked with, and he has thrown them to the dogs at the last minute for a price. During the days of NADECO, he betrayed the cause by colluding with the government of the day secretly while pretending to be a NADECO leader.
“The truth is that this man has not only sold his soul to the devil but he has also sold his followers for a pittance and he is leading them into perdition. He wants to buy and sell Nigeria too, and it is time for somebody to tell him that Nigeria is not for sale. This is what Chief Fani-Kayode and others are in the process of doing.”
Fani-Kayode has faced criminal prosecution, corruption charges, and trials spanning four major cases and appeals by the EFCC over the last 18 years, but he was acquitted of all charges.
Femi Fani-Kayode
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