How deceased former Yobe senator made Tinubu’s ambassadorial list

Facts have emerged on how Adamu Talba, a former senator who passed away on July 14, was nominated for ambassadorial appointment by President Bola Tinubu last week.

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The discovery of his death attracted widespread criticism to the presidency, with outspoken political commentator and activist, Mahdi Shehu, describing the blunder as worthy of inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records.

PREMIUM TIMES findings revealed that the deceased senator was nominated by the Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Geidam, many months ago.

President Tinubu delayed the appointment of ambassadors for nearly two years until he released the list of nominees after his administration came in the cross hairs of American President Donald Trump and some Republican lawmakers over alleged persecution and killings of Christians in Nigeria.

Some critics have described the nomination of the ambassadors as a panicky reaction to the American pressures.

Our reporter gathered that the children of the late lawmaker sent an appreciation letter to Mr Geidam, who is a former governor and political godfather of Yobe State, for recommending their father for the appointment.

The list released by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga also contains spelling errors, as the late senator’s surname, Garba, was rendered as ‘Tarba’, and his local government area was stated as ‘Na-gari’, instead of ‘Nangere’.

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Mr Shehu, in a post shared on X on Friday, described the mistake as a sad, scandalous and avoidable blunder.

“This clearly shows everything is being done in a panicky, haphazard and fire brigade approach out of FEAR and in a hurry to please local and foreign influencers so that ‘the lion’ can have some sleep,” he wrote.

In the opinion of the Katsina-born outspoken businessman and medical practitioner, the appearance of a deceased person on an official list reveals deep institutional failures.

He questioned why agencies tasked with verifying the names and backgrounds of nominees did not carry out even the most basic checks.

“It shows how agencies responsible for vetting nominees are clearly not doing their job,” he wrote.

“Regimes that will continue to fail are those that have no blueprint, no action plan, panicky, full of injustice and unfairness, with open bias and hate against those they perceive or are made to perceive them as enemies that must be eliminated at all cost.

Currently, it’s unclear whether Yobe has a new nominee, as state officials have remained silent on the matter.

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However, there are rumours that the immediate past Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, may replace the late senator as the nominee from the state. He comes from the same senatorial district as the late Mr Talba.

When contacted, Mr Aliyu denied knowledge of the rumours.

“This is political time, and there are too many speculations on people’s minds and on their lips. The truth is that our ways are different from those of Allah, and whatever people speculate, Allah’s will still prevail, and for me, my absolute belief is in Him and Him alone”, Mr Aliyu said.