President Muhammadu Buhari has requested the Senate to confirm Abike Dabiri-Erewa for another term as chair of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM).

Buhari’s request was contained in a letter that Senate President Ahmad Lawan read on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Tuesday.

Dabiri-Erewa is the pioneer head of the commission that is domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The former Senior Special Adviser to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, was appointed NIDCOM chairman in November 2018.

She also served in the House of Representatives as a member representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency in Lagos from 2003 to 2015.

The Dabiri-Erewa-led NIDCOM has been coordinating the evacuation of Nigerian students stranded in Sudan after violent clashes broke out in the northeastern African country.

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In a separate letter, the president also asked the upper legislative chamber to appoint six commissioners for the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

The president nominated Ayogu Eze (Enugu state), Peter Opara (Imo state), and Hauwa Aliyu (Jigawa state).

Others are Tanko Ayuba Haruna (Kebbi state), Ismaila Mohammed (Kwara state), and Kolawole Daniel Abimbola (Oyo state).

Abike Kafayat Oluwatoyin Dabiri-Erewa OON is a Nigerian politician and former member of the Nigeria Federal House Representatives representing Ikorodu Constituency in Lagos State. She was the Chairman of the House Committee on Media & Publicity.

She was also the former Chairperson of the House Committee on Diaspora Affairs, and was elected for the first time in 2003, and re-elected in 2007 and 2011.

In 2015, she was appointed as the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora. In November 2018, Dabiri-Erewa was given a new role of Chairman/CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission. The letter for the confirmation of her appointment was sent to the Senate in 2018 by the Presidency but was delayed until May 2019 when the Senate confirmed her appointment.

She was also a supporter of “Together Nigeria”; an independent advocacy group launched to work towards President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2019 re-election bid.

She is the incumbent Chairman/CEO of Nigerian in Diaspora Commission.