The Senate yesterday revealed that it will proceed to screen the 47 ambassadorial nominees submitted to it by President Muhammadu Buhari in June.
The resolution to proceed with the screening of the ambassadorial nomination followed the adoption of the report of the foreign affairs committee which investigated allegations of lopsidedness in the nomination.
Presenting the report of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on the investigative hearing on alleged irregularities and lopsidedness of the list of 47 career ambassadorial nominees, Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Shehu Sani, All Progressives Congress, APC, Kaduna Central, said: “The committee, having considered all the petitions and concerns on the 47 ambassadorial nominees under consideration by the Senate, concludes that the nominees were meticulously selected in line with due diligence. “They should, therefore, be considered for screening and confirmation by the Senate.
The 47 career ambassadorial nominees were carefully selected on the basis of federal character, seniority, gender consideration, specialist relevance, a minimum of 30 months period of service before retirement and competence, except for a few that have between 18 and 29 months remaining periods of service.
Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ondo and Plateau states did not have any name on the list as they did not meet the criteria approved for selection. The Senate urged the President to expedite action in submitting the list of non-career ambassadors to balance the nomination.
