Tinubu Nominates Non-Career Ambassadors To U.S., U.K., And France

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded to the Senate the names of three non-career diplomats nominated to represent Nigeria in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. Their postings will be confirmed after Senate screening and approval.

The nominees are Ambassador Ayodele Oke, Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are, and Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu—seasoned security and diplomatic figures with decades of experience in intelligence, foreign relations, and national security.

Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu, nominated for one of the three top missions, previously served as Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Korea under former President Muhammadu Buhari. First appointed in 2016, Dalhatu was credited with strengthening Nigeria’s bilateral ties with Seoul during his tenure.

Ambassador Ayodele Oke, an alumnus of Emory University in Atlanta, is a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). Before leading the NIA, he was Nigeria’s representative to the Secretariat of the Commonwealth of Nations in London, bringing extensive diplomatic exposure to his new nomination.

Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are, who holds a First Class Honours degree in Psychology from the University of Ibadan, served as Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS) from 1999 to 2007. He later became National Security Adviser in 2010 and previously held key roles within the Directorate of Military Intelligence.

President Tinubu’s selections signal a preference for experienced security and intelligence professionals to anchor Nigeria’s most strategic foreign missions. If confirmed, the nominees are expected to play central roles in advancing Nigeria’s diplomatic, security, and economic interests in Washington, London, and Paris.