Senate Clears Oke, Are, Dalhatu For Ambassadorial Appointments

The Senate has completed the screening of the three ambassadorial nominees forwarded to the upper chamber by President Bola Tinubu for confirmation.

They are Kayode Are (Ogun State), Aminu Dalhatu (Jigawa State), and Ayodele Oke (Oyo State).

The nominees, who appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs chaired by Senator Sani Bello (APC, Niger North), were screened by the panel.

The committee’s report is expected to be presented at plenary for consideration and possible confirmation in due course.

Speaking during the session, Senator Bello disclosed that Ayodele Oke had addressed and cleared all allegations previously raised against him.

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President Tinubu, in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary last week, requested the confirmation of the three nominees.

Oke, an alumnus of Emory University in Atlanta, is a former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and previously served as Nigeria’s ambassador to the Secretariat of the Commonwealth of Nations in London.

Dalhatu previously served as Nigeria’s ambassador to South Korea under the Late President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Are was the director general of the State Security Service (SSS) from 1999 to 2007, served as National Security Adviser in 2010, and was an officer in the Directorate of Military Intelligence.

He also graduated with First Class honours in Psychology from the University of Ibadan in 1980.