The Presidency has officially disclosed the foreign postings of the three non-career ambassadorial nominees recently forwarded to the Senate by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The update was released on X by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to Onanuga, the nominees have been designated to serve in three of Nigeria’s most strategic diplomatic missions — the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. Their postings, however, will take effect only after confirmation by the Senate.
“The postings will be finalised following Senate screening,” Onanuga stated.
The three nominees announced by the Presidency are Ambassador Ayodele Oke, Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are, and Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu.
Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu is no stranger to diplomatic service. He previously served as Nigeria’s envoy to South Korea under former President Muhammadu Buhari, having first been appointed in 2016.
Ambassador Ayodele Oke, an alumnus of Emory University in Atlanta, is a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). He also once represented Nigeria as ambassador to the Secretariat of the Commonwealth of Nations in London.
Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are brings an extensive security background to the diplomatic corps. He served as Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS) from 1999 to 2007, later became National Security Adviser in 2010, and was previously an officer with the Directorate of Military Intelligence. He graduated with First Class Honours in Psychology from the University of Ibadan in 1980.
The Presidency’s announcement marks a major step toward filling key diplomatic positions that have remained vacant since 2023, with Nigerians now awaiting the Senate’s confirmation hearings.
