Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s latest list of ambassadorial nominees, saying several selections are “shocking” and reflect a system where “mediocrity, corruption and impunity” have been elevated.
Tinubu recently forwarded 32 names to the Senate for confirmation, in addition to three earlier nominees. The list includes Reno Omokri, former presidential aide; Mahmood Yakubu, former INEC chairman; Femi Fani-Kayode, former aviation minister; and Okezie Ikpeazu, former Abia governor.
In a post on X on Monday, Obi said many of the choices “leave much to be desired.”
“Yes, some of the names being paraded to represent us as ambassadors globally are shocking. But with a leadership that has allowed mediocrity, corruption, and impunity to rise to the top, who else did you expect them to choose?” he wrote.
Obi also used the opportunity to highlight the worsening hardship across the country.
“When our people are being killed, our leaders are busy hosting dinners. When children are being snatched from their schools, the political class is celebrating and dancing,” he said.
“When families cannot afford their next meal, those in power are welcoming defectors and exchanging gifts as though Nigeria is not burning.
“This is not governance. This is not leadership. And this is certainly not the Nigeria we deserve.”
He described the suffering in the country as a “pain one carries silently,” recounting how a group of young Nigerians approached him at the Abuja airport and urged him to speak on the nation’s challenges.
“It is the kind of pain that makes you remember the humiliating remark from the American president who referred to Nigeria as a ‘now disgraced country’,” Obi added.
“Today, when you look around, you begin to understand why the world speaks of us that way.”
