JUST IN: PRESIDENT TINUBU NOMINATES THREE NON-CAREER AMBASSADORS TO KEY GLOBAL POWERS AS U.S.–NIGERIA TENSIONS RISE OVER ‘CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION’ ALLEGATIONS

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated three non-career ambassadors to represent Nigeria in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, in what is seen as a major diplomatic move amid escalating tensions following controversial remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump. The announcement was made by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga on Wednesday.

The nominations came shortly after the United States, under President Trump, designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern.” The designation followed Trump’s renewed threat to deploy U.S. troops to Nigeria to “wipe out terrorists” over President Tinubu’s alleged failure to curb the “persecution of Christians” in the country.

According to the presidency, the nominees include Ambassador Ayodele Oke for the United States, Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are for the United Kingdom, and Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu for France. Their appointments are subject to Senate screening and confirmation.

Ambassador Dalhatu previously served as Nigeria’s envoy to South Korea under the administration of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, having first been appointed in 2016.

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

Retired Colonel Are, a seasoned intelligence professional, was Director General of the State Security Service (SSS) from 1999 to 2007. He also served as National Security Adviser in 2010 and built his career within the Directorate of Military Intelligence.

The federal government, reacting to the heightened rhetoric from the U.S., rejected what it described as the dangerous framing of Nigeria’s security challenges along religious lines. Last week, the government warned that such “divisive and narrow rhetoric” threatens national cohesion.

Responding to Trump’s assertion that killings in Nigeria amount to “Christian genocide,” the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, insisted that terrorism, banditry, and other violent crimes affect Nigerians across all ethnic and religious backgrounds.

According to him, such claims were not only “factually inaccurate” but harmful to national unity.

He stated: “Nigeria’s security landscape is a complex combination of terrorism, banditry, and criminality that has claimed the lives and livelihoods of citizens across all ethnic and religious backgrounds.

“These forces of evil do not discriminate by faith; they target the very fabric of our nation.

“Indeed, framing Nigeria’s security challenges in religious terms is counterproductive to national unity, especially at a time when we need to stand together to defeat extraneous forces that are bent on destabilising our country.

“The international community, including respected global religious leaders, acknowledges the complex socio-economic and political roots of the conflicts, rather than a simplistic sectarian narrative.

“The position of the Federal Government of Nigeria remains unequivocal: Nigeria is a multi-faith nation where the freedom of worship is constitutionally guaranteed and must be upheld by everyone.”

Despite the government’s rebuttal, President Trump has continued his criticisms of the Tinubu administration, describing Nigeria as “a disgrace” due to worsening insecurity and the continued killing of citizens.

“I think Nigeria is a disgrace. The whole thing is a disgrace. They’re killing people by the thousands. It’s a genocide. And I’m really angry about it. And we pay, you know, we give a lot of subsidy to Nigeria, which we’re going to end up stopping,” Trump told Fox News Radio’s The Brian Kilmeade Show on Friday.

“The government’s done nothing. They are very ineffective. They’re killing Christians at will. And you know, until I got involved in it two weeks ago, nobody even talked about it.”

These remarks came just days after President Tinubu dispatched a high-powered delegation to Washington to brief the U.S. government on Nigeria’s security efforts. The delegation, led by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, met with top officials of Trump’s administration, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

The team also held discussions with Congressman Riley Moore, whom Trump instructed to investigate the situation in Nigeria and report directly to him.

The unfolding diplomatic tensions have placed additional significance on Tinubu’s ambassadorial nominees, who are expected to play key roles in stabilising Nigeria’s relations with its most influential global partners once confirmed by the Senate.