Ndume: Why I Took Part in Ambassadorial Screening In spite of Alleged Lopsided List

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

Senator Ali Ndume, yesterday, explained why he participated in the screening of ambassadorial nominees by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs despite his earlier criticism of the list as lopsided and in breach of the federal character principle.

Ndume, had on the eve of the screening exercise, publicly urged President Bola Tinubu to withdraw the ambassadorial nominees list submitted to the Senate, citing what he described as glaring imbalance in its composition. 

He argued that the list failed to reflect the spread and inclusiveness required by Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which mandated that appointments into federal institutions must reflect the federal character of Nigeria in order to promote national unity and loyalty.

However, in a statement in Abuja, the Borno South senator said he was persuaded by his colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee to take part in the exercise, following assurances that the committee’s concerns would be formally conveyed to the president.

According to Ndume, while he maintained his position that the list was lopsided, he considered it more productive to raise his objections from within the process rather than boycott the screening entirely.

“I still maintain that the list is lopsided. At the committee level, I raised a constitutional order, and we agreed that we would continue with the screening. 

“However, in our report, we will clearly tell the president that the composition of the remaining list should be balanced to address our concerns about the breach of the federal character principle as enshrined in the Constitution.”

He disclosed that the leadership of the committee assured him that the Senate’s observations would be captured in its report to be transmitted to President Tinubu, particularly with regard to states that were either sidelined or inadequately represented in the current nominations.

Ndume stressed that states excluded from the present list should be accommodated in subsequent nominations to ensure fairness and equity across the federation. 

He pointed out that some states, including Gombe and Yobe, were not captured at all in the nominations already forwarded to the Senate.