It Breaches Federal Character’: Ndume Faults Tinubu’s Ambassadorial List, Demands Withdrawal
Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s list of 65 ambassadorial nominees, insisting that it breaches the federal character principle and should be withdrawn.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday, Ndume argued that the allocation of nominees across states and geopolitical zones falls short of the constitutional requirement for fair representation. He warned that allowing the list to pass could deepen ethnic suspicion.
“The entire North-East state has seven nominees in the list. Further checks revealed that the South-West geo-political zone has 15 nominees, while North-West and South-East have 13 and 9, respectively.
North-Central region has 10 nominees in the list of career and non-career ambassadorial nominee,s while South-South parades 12 nominees,” Ndume stated.
The former Senate Leader highlighted disparities, noting that while some states have multiple slots, others have none.
He also pointed out a glaring error in the list: the inclusion of Senator Adamu Garba Talba from Yobe, who reportedly died in July.
Ndume appealed to the President to rectify the imbalance to avoid stoking ethnic distrust.
“My sincere appeal to President Tinubu is to withdraw this list. At this critical juncture in his administration, he should avoid missteps that could undermine national unity and foster ethnic distrust.
I know him to be a cosmopolitan leader who is at home with every segment and stakeholder in the country.
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,” he added.
The Senate is expected to begin screening the 65 nominees next week, following the President’s submission of the list on Thursday.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has referred the list to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs with a one-week deadline for a report.
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