Senate Committee begins screening of Career ambassadorial nominees

Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on Monday started the online screening of career ambassadorial nominees.

Online screening which was occassioned by COVID-19 pandemic was the first of its kind in the history of the National Assembly.

Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa innhis opening address explained that the Senate’s Committee of the whole had given approval for online screening of career nominees who could not travel back home due to flight challenges after he moved a motion to that effect.

Those to be screened are from Africa, Europe, Asia, America and Middle East.

However, Monday’s screening started with nominees who are already career diplomats in Nigerian embassies in African countries.

They are:

1. Obinna Chinedu Onowu (Burundi)
2. Ekpebike Steve Agbana (Algeria)
3. Ogah Usman Ari (Equitorial Guinea)
4. Safiu Olukayode Okaniyan (Cameroon)
5. Abiodun Richards Adejola (Ethiopia)
6. Olawale Emmanuel Awe (Benin Republic)
7. Ibim Nkem Charles (DRC)
8. Zachariah Mallam Ifu (Burkina Faso)

According to the time table which was released to newsmen by the Clerk of the Committee in Abuja, the online screening for nominees living in Europe is scheduled for Tuesday, while those of Asia, America and middle East would be screened on Wednesday.

The online screening was coming after other nominees who are resident in Nigeria before their nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari have been concluded.

CAPITAL POST recalls that President Buhari in an executive communication forwarded a list of 42 career ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation.