Two years after appointing no envoys, President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday forwarded the names of three non-career ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation. One of them is Ayodele Oke.

Mr Oke is a former director general of the National Intelligence Agency. His nomination comes many years after he was enmeshed in a national scandal when anti-graft officials found a substantial amount in an apartment in Lagos.

Mr Oke was suspended by then-President Muhammadu Buhari after the EFCC found more than $43 million in an apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos. The cash haul was substantially linked to him as the then-head of the NIA. Mr Oke was eventually dismissed by Mr Buhari, following which he fled Nigeria.

He was believed to have stayed away from the country and has never been heard from since his disgraceful exit from the foreign intelligence office until his sudden appointment by Mr Tinubu, who has a long history of public corruption and racketeering charges himself.

A spokesman for the presidency declined to comment on the controversial nomination on Wednesday night.

During plenary, apart from Mr Oke, Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced Kayode Are (Ogun State) and Aminu Dalhatu (Jigawa State) as ambassadorial nominees.

Mr Akpabio said, “The list contains three names for now; I am sure others will follow.”

Acting on the request, the Senate president directed the Senate’s committee on foreign affairs to conduct a review of the shortlist within a week.

The latest decision, seeking to ratify the nominees, followed a year-long concern over the state and diplomatic effects of the vacant key positions.

In 2023, Mr Tinubu recalled career and non-career ambassadors in the country’s 109 diplomatic missions, comprising 76 embassies, 22 high commissions and 11 consulates.