Activist and public commentator Mahdi Shehu has chided President Bola Tinubu for nominating late Senator Adamu Talba, who passed away in July 2025, among the latest ambassadorial nominees.
In a post shared on X on Friday, Shehu described the oversight as a sad, scandalous and entirely avoidable blunder.
He questioned the level of diligence exercised by the agencies responsible for screening the nominees.
According to him, the error exposes a nomination process that was rushed and poorly handled.
“This clearly shows that everything is being done in a panicky, haphazard, fire-brigade manner, out of fear and in a hurry to please local and foreign influencers so that ‘the lion’ can get some sleep,” he wrote.
Shehu argued that the inclusion of a deceased person on an official list points to deep institutional failures, noting that the agencies charged with verifying the names and backgrounds of nominees did not perform even the most basic checks.
“It shows how the agencies responsible for vetting nominees are clearly not doing their job,” he added.
He warned that regimes prone to such failures are those without a blueprint or action plan, and those characterised by panic, injustice, unfairness, open bias and hostility towards those they perceive as enemies.
“This is a blunder the Guinness Record Book must register as a unique incidence,” he concluded.
Thefrontrank reports that Tinubu had nominated late Senator Adamu Talba, as an ambassador five months after his death.
The late lawmaker who hailed from Yobe State died at the National Hospital Abuja on July 14, 2025, after a brief illness at 73.
The incident stirred widespread controversy on social media, with commentators calling on the President’s team to thoroughly scrutinise appointment lists.
The letter conveying the request was read on the floor of the Senate on Thursday by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
Among the nominees are the immediate past Sole Administrator of Rivers State and former Chief of Naval Staff — Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, former Minister of Interior and ex–Chief of Army Staff — Abdulrahman Dambazau, a former presidential aide — Ita Enang; and a former Imo State First Lady — Chioma Ohakim.
