Former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, has urged President Bola Tinubu to withdraw the list of ambassadorial nominees recently forwarded to the Senate, alleging that it violates the federal character principle enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
The list, which was read on the floor of the Red Chamber on Thursday by Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has since been referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs for screening.
Raising objections to the composition of the nominees, Ndume said the list failed to reflect equitable representation of states and geopolitical zones, as required by Section 14(3) of the Constitution.
According to him, while some states have been allocated three or four nominees, Gombe State has no nominee at all. He also noted that Yobe State is currently without representation following the death in July of its only nominee, Adamu Talba.
The Borno South lawmaker further disclosed that the entire North-East has only seven nominees on the list, compared to 15 from the South-West, 13 from the North-West, nine from the South-East, 10 from the North-Central and 12 from the South-South.
Ndume stressed that the distribution breaches constitutional provisions mandating that federal appointments must reflect the federal character of Nigeria to promote national unity and prevent dominance by a few states or sectional groups.
Quoting Section 14(3) of the Constitution, he said government must be conducted “in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity”, while avoiding “the predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups”.
He warned that failure to adhere to these principles could inflame ethnic tensions and deepen public distrust.
“My sincere appeal to President Tinubu is to withdraw this list,” Ndume said, adding that at a critical time in the administration, actions capable of undermining national cohesion should be avoided, especially “amidst the wrong narrative being promoted by the Western world against his administration”.
Describing President Tinubu as a cosmopolitan leader with wide national acceptance, Ndume expressed confidence that he could correct the anomaly by submitting a fresh list that complies with constitutional provisions.
He maintained that public office appointments must fairly reflect Nigeria’s diversity in order to strengthen unity and confidence in governance.
