By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday asked the Senate to replace two ambassadors-designate, Oboro Akpabio (Akwa Ibom) and Bwala Bukar (Borno), with two new nominations.
A letter he sent to the Senate sought confirmation of the appointments of John Usanga (Akwa Ibom) and Peter Anda Gana (Niger State) as non-career ambassadors.
The letter, which was read out at plenary by Senate President Ahmad Lawan, substituted Akpabio for Usanga and Bukar for Gana.
Buhari had nominated both Akpabio and Bukar in a letter he sent to the Senate on June 17.
Senator Philip Aduda, who represents the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), protested the exclusion of a non-career ambassador from the FCT.
He complained that “the ambassadorial nomination for the non-career, nothing has been said about the one for FCT. It has been silent and we have an ambassador who is already sitting in Sierra Leone, his name is … Hafiz Obada.
“We don’t know what becomes of his fate because other states have been told to remain in their stations or they have been re-appointed.
“My issue is that is it at this time FCT will now lose an ambassador. It is worrisome to me and the people of the FCT. Sitting here, names have been called for all other states except FCT and we have one.
“Now that particular non-career ambassadorial slot for the FCT is being taken away from us and is being killed, otherwise we are also entitled to have, and that is what I have consistently said since this list came out.
“So, Mr President, I hope something can be done to this to help the people of the FCT. We don’t get ministerial nomination, we don’t get so many of these things, but the small one that we have is about to be taken away which should not be so.”
Lawan described Aduda’s complaint as valid because it is constitutional for an indigene of the FCT to be appointed as a non-career ambassador.
Said he: “I sympathise with the FCT but I know there were 12 non-career ambassadors who were retained. I don’t know if you have an FCT indigene among those 12, probably you should check that to see if you would see any FCT indigene, but your complaint is very valid.
“What I’m going to advice is maybe we need to take more political action, so that it doesn’t always come like it is an after-thought. The FCT is to be treated like a state, that’s what the Constitution states, so you deserve one like any other state deserves.”