Former Senate Leader Ali Ndume has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to withdraw the list of Nigerians nominated for screening and confirmation as ambassadors. Ndume made this appeal in Abuja on Thursday, citing concerns that the list breaches the Federal Character principle enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
He pointed out that while some states have multiple nominees, Gombe State, for instance, has no representation at all. Additionally, the only nominee from Yobe, Senator Adamu Garba Talba, passed away last July. The distribution of nominees shows that the entire Northeast has only seven representatives, while the Southwest has 15, the Northwest has 13, the Southeast has nine, the North Central has ten, and the South-South has twelve.
Ndume emphasized that this discrepancy contravenes Section 14(3) of the Nigerian Constitution, which mandates that the composition of government and its agencies should reflect the federal character of Nigeria, promoting national unity and preventing the predominance of certain ethnic or regional groups.
He stated, “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 would endanger national unity and promote ethnic distrust.”
He asserted that President Tinubu is a cosmopolitan leader familiar with the diverse stakeholders across the country and urged him to present a revised list of nominees in alignment with the Constitutional principle of Federal Character.
