Mahmood Yakubu, former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), arrived in Doha on Wednesday to assume duties as Nigeria’s ambassador to Qatar. He transitions from leading one of the country’s most contentious domestic offices to representing Nigeria on one of the world’s most strategic diplomatic stages.
Yakubu, the first INEC Chairman to serve two terms, concluded his tenure in October last year. He’s among the 32 ambassadorial appointees whose names President Bola Tinubu forwarded to the Senate for confirmation in November last year. After the Senate confirmation, the President, on 6th March, approved the names of 65 ambassadors-designate. Yakubu was assigned as Nigeria’s ambassador to Qatar.
Upon his arrival in the Qatari capital on Wednesday, the new envoy was received at the airport by Ambassador Ibrahim Yousif Abdullah Fakhro, Director of the Protocol Department at the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This gesture signalled Qatar’s formal acknowledgement of his posting.
Significantly, 13 African ambassadors also joined Fakhro to receive Yakubu. The Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, Dr Philip Mshelbila, and Michael Ndukaihe Ihekwaba, President of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation in Qatar were also present.
