Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, on Saturday knocked President Bola Tinubu’s newly unveiled ambassadorial nominees’ list, saying it reflects a country that “constantly rewards criminality and misdeeds.”
In a statement issued Saturday, Effiong said the nominations favoured individuals linked to Nigeria’s decline, insisting, “It is a travesty.”
“Those who have contributed to Nigeria’s destruction are largely the ones nominated to be the image and voice of our country abroad. It is a travesty,” he said.
Effiong argued that diplomatic appointments represent national direction, warning that the new list fails the confidence test.
“The quality of a country’s ambassador is an indication of the country’s direction,” he stated, insisting that the nominees’ background raises more worry than hope.
According to him, “most of the names on President Tinubu’s list are career politicians who have failed to deliver in their previous roles, sycophants, and morally challenged individuals.”
Effiong singled out the inclusion of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, saying the appointment symbolised everything wrong with the recruitment of leadership.
“I find it particularly upsetting that the same Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, who supervised a highly disputed and rigged election in 2023, has now been rewarded with an ambassadorial position,” he said.
Condemning the system that produced the list, Effiong warned that no country scales through insecurity by recycling failed political characters into strategic foreign positions.
Earlier, Naijaonpoint reported that President Tinubu transmitted a second batch of ambassadorial nominees to the Senate, forwarding 32 additional names days after submitting an initial list of three.
In two separate letters to Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu urged the Senate to “consider and confirm expeditiously” 15 career ambassadorial nominees and 17 non-career nominees.
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