Retired profession diplomat Ambassador Gbara Awanen has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to face agency towards what he described as an “orchestrated media trial” concentrating on a few of his newly submitted ambassadorial nominees, notably former director basic of the Nationwide Intelligence Company (NIA), Ambassador Ayodele Oke.
President Tinubu had on November 26, 2025, forwarded the primary batch of three ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for affirmation. Amongst them is Ambassador Oke, who headed the NIA between 2013 and 2017 and was beforehand accused of corrupt enrichment, allegations that had been later dismissed in courtroom.
In response to Ambassador Awanen, these protesting Oke’s nomination,are “political buccaneers and misinformed civil society actors,” who’re counting on claims which have already been legally disproven. He harassed that many Nigerians are unaware of the total information of Oke’s ordeal.
He recalled that on June 9, 2023, Justice C. J. Aneke of the Federal Excessive Courtroom in Lagos struck out all costs towards Oke based mostly on nationwide safety issues and a mutual settlement by each the prosecution and defence groups. The choice, he mentioned, was additional validated by then-President Muhammadu Buhari, who affirmed the authorized and nationwide safety implications of discontinuing the case.
Awanen argued that the precept of presumption of innocence stays a cornerstone of democracy, insisting that after a courtroom has given a remaining verdict, whether or not by acquittal, dismissal, or quashing of costs, the person should be considered legally harmless.
“To proceed treating an accused individual as responsible after the courts have affirmed their innocence is to undermine the judiciary and the constitutional course of,” he mentioned, including that Ambassador Oke now enjoys the identical authorized and ethical standing as any Nigerian with no legal file.
He warned that bowing to media stress would set a harmful precedent whereby mere allegations, irrespective of how baseless, might completely damage an individual’s profession. In response to him, such a development would embolden detractors to weaponize accusations for political acquire.
“A authorities should be capable to appoint probably the most certified people to excessive workplace,” Awanen maintained. “Only a few are as skilled in nationwide safety and worldwide diplomacy as Ambassador Oke.”
He argued additional that withdrawing the nomination would politicize judicial outcomes and erode public confidence within the authorities’s dedication to equity and the rule of legislation.
As an alternative, Ambassador Awanen urged the Tinubu administration to stay resolute, emphasizing that the main target must be on the nominee’s competence, imaginative and prescient, and capability to serve, not on discredited allegations.
He described Oke as a “regular, strategic thinker” whose experience is required at a time of serious world uncertainty and nationwide safety concern.
“President Tinubu made the correct name by nominating Ambassador Oke,” he mentioned. “Rejecting a media-driven marketing campaign towards him would ship a powerful message that this authorities prioritizes advantage, respects the judiciary, and values the contributions of devoted public servants.”
Awanen concluded by calling on the Senate and the general public to uphold equity and resist makes an attempt to re-punish a person who has already been declared harmless by legislation.
