By Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
A routine ambassadorial screening took an unexpected turn on Wednesday when senators sharply criticised one of President Bola Tinubu’s career nominees for what they described as a worrying lapse in basic civic awareness.
Emmanuel Adeyemi, a deputy director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an experienced diplomat with previous postings in Hong Kong and France, stunned members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs when he failed to name all three senators representing his home state, Ekiti.
Attempting to acknowledge “the two senators from my state,” Adeyemi correctly mentioned Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele and Senator Yemi Adaramodu. However, he faltered when asked to supply the third name.
Committee members reminded him that every state elects three senators. The situation deteriorated further when a member of his delegation was spotted hurriedly searching for the missing name — Senator Cyril Fasuyi — online, a move that visibly irritated the panel.
Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (Cross River South) said the incident raised deeper concerns about the readiness of nominees seeking to represent Nigeria abroad.
“While no one can know everything, an ambassadorial nominee should at least know the three senators representing his state,” he said. “Nigeria’s global reputation is fragile at this moment. Competence must not be negotiable.”
Senators Adams Oshiomhole and Seriake Dickson echoed the criticism, describing the lapse as disappointing and entirely avoidable.
However, Senator Yunus Akintunde, standing in for Senate Leader Bamidele, urged the committee to overlook the blunder, although he conceded that the “Google search episode” was embarrassing.
Adeyemi is one of three proposed envoys from Ekiti, alongside Erelu Angela Adebayo and Olumilua Oluwayemika.
The committee also screened other career nominees, including Ahmed Sulu Gambari, Maimuna Besto, Monica Enebechi, Kingsley Onaga, Ahmed Monguno, Magaji Umar and Aminu Nasir.
In an unexpected twist, former Ondo governorship aspirant Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, whose name was not on the day’s official schedule, was invited to “take a bow and go,” prompting murmurs across the panel.
President Tinubu had last week forwarded 65 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate — a mix of career diplomats and political appointees — invoking Section 171 of the 1999 Constitution while urging swift confirmation.
The list includes seasoned envoys such as Sulu-Gambari Olatunji Ahmed (Kwara), Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno) and Maimuna Ibrahim (Adamawa), as well as notable political figures including former presidential aide Ita Enang and retired service chiefs Ibok-Ete Ibas and Lt-Gen Abdulrahman Dambazzau.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has directed the committee to complete its screening within one week.
Wednesday’s session marked the second phase of the exercise. An earlier batch, Kayode Are (Ogun), Aminu Dalhatu (Jigawa) and Ayodele Oke (Oyo), had appeared before the committee, with Oke using the session to address longstanding allegations.
According to insiders, the staggered screenings form part of a broader strategic overhaul of Nigeria’s diplomatic missions as the administration prepares for extensive reforms across its foreign postings.
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