The sack is the biggest since President Buhari assumed office on May 29.
The call of duty is over
for top ranking members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who were
appointed ambassadors by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
They were recalled home last night by President Muhammadu Buhari after three years of service abroad.
Prominent
among them are a former Foreign Affairs Minister , Chief Ojo Maduekwe
(Canada); Chairman of the Jonathan Presidential Campaign Organisation
in the 2011 election, Dr. Dalhatu Tafida (UK);Professor Ade Adefuye
(USA);widow of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu,
Bianca (Spain);and former deputy governor of Oyo State, Mr. Taofeek
Arapaja (Jordan).
The
rest include a former aviation minister, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze
(Switzerland);ex-General Manager, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA),
Ibadan, Mr. Yemi Farounbi (Philippines); a one-time governorship
aspirant in Lagos State, Mr. Olatokunbo Kamson (Jamaica); a PDP front
liner in Ondo State, Mr. Cornelius Oluwateru (UAE); Alhaji Abubakar
Shehu Bunu (Saudi Arabia); a former Commissioner for Justice and
Attorney General in Benue State, Mr. Chive Kaave (Argentina); a former
financial secretary of the PDP, Alhaji Tukur Mani (Iran);and former
permanent secretary, Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA
Biodun Nathaniel Olorunfemi (Namibia).
Also on
the list are: Chief Asam Asam (SAN), (Russia); Mr. Okwudili Nwosu
(Burundi); Mr. Okeke Chukwuemeka (Vatican); Mr. Eric Aworahbi (Italy);
Dauda Danladi (Pakistan); and Mrs. Katherine Okon (Czeck Republic); Mr.
Nwofe Alexander,; Princess Victoria Bosede Onipede (Republic of Congo);
Senator Haruna Garba (Kuwait); Mrs. Nonye Rajis-Okpara (Singapore);
Chief Eddy Onuoha (Hungary); Mr. Adamu Babangida Ibrahim (Syria); Dr.
Sam Jimba (Poland)
They were among the 93 envoys posted out in June 2012.
Authoritative
sources said last night in Abuja that the Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had communicated the President’s directive
to the affected ambassadors.
They were told to hand over to the highest ranking officer in their various locations.
A
Presidency source confirmed to The Nation that some of the ambassadors
including the envoy in Saudi Arabia were already on their way back to
the country at press time.
The
source said: “the President has issued a directive to the Permanent
Secretary in Ministry of Foreign Affairs to recall all the political
appointees currently serving as ambassadors in all parts of the world.
It doesn’t matter whether they have just few months to the end of their
tenure.
“I am
sure the envoy in Saudi Arabia is already on his way and quite many
others should be reporting to the ministry by Monday. I really don’t
have a comprehensive list of the number of people that are affected but
they are posted in different continents mostly in key European, Asian
and American countries.”
Their
nominations were endorsed by the Senate on Wednesday February 8, 2012,
nearly two months after former President Jonathan submitted their names.
On the list were 32 names of politicians.
The
ex-President in a letter to the then Senate President, David Mark,
requested that in line with section 171(1) C, sub-section 4 of the 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, the Senate
should consider the list, hoping that “this exercise will receive the
usual kind expeditious attention of the Distinguished Members of the
Senate of the Federal Republic.”
Of the
88 nominees sent to the Senate by Jonathan, only 87 appeared before the
screening committee, while 84 passed the screening. Two of the
nominees, Mrs. Sifawu Momoh, Edo; and Mazi Okafor Ojih, Ebonyi, could
not scale the screening as the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs did
not recommend them for confirmation.
Mrs.
Bianca Ojukwu, who was nominated to represent Anambra State on the list
of non-career category, did not appear for screening but was confirmed
nonetheless, her nomination coming barely a week after her husband died
in a London hospital.
Maduekwue
was nominated by Jonathan following his ouster as National Secretary of
the party in what observers said was a move to placate him.
Kamson, Njeze and Arapaja had all failed to secure the party’s governorship tickets in their states.
The
recall of Ambassadors serving in foreign missions is a routine exercise
especially where there is a change of guard at the federal level.
Thenationonlineng reportage.
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