Ex INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu assume office as Nigeria’s ambassador to Qatar

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.

Yakubu’s posting to Qatar has been described by analysts as strategic, citing the cordial relationship and strong economic ties between the two countries. Nigeria and Qatar formally established diplomatic relations in 2010, with both opening embassies in Abuja and Doha in 2013. The visit by former President Muhammadu Buhari to Qatar in 2016, followed by Qatar’s ruler, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s visit to Nigeria in 2019, laid the foundation for a wide range of collaborations.

President Tinubu’s visit to the country in 2024, during which several agreements and Memoranda of Understanding were signed, further deepened the political and economic ties between the two countries.

“Energy is a natural area of cooperation between Nigeria and Qatar. The key diplomatic goal would be to leverage Qatar’s expertise as a top LNG exporter and Nigeria’s vast natural gas reserves to advance mutual energy initiatives. Which is why Dr Mshelbila’s presence at the airport was no coincidence. Yakubu now has the task of aligning Nigeria’s Decade of Gas initiative with Qatari technical expertise and investment capital.

“Beyond energy, Yakubu will need to translate President Tinubu’s economic reform programme – anchored on foreign exchange unification and subsidy removal – into concrete foreign direct investment flows from Qatar.

“The Qatar Investment Authority, the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund, manages assets in excess of $500 billion. Taking advantage of this opportunity for viable Nigerian projects in agriculture, aviation, real estate, and digital infrastructure would be viewed as a significant diplomatic dividend.

Nigeria’s presence in the Gulf is growing rapidly, shifting away from its traditional concentration in Western Europe and North America.

Working alongside the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation in Qatar, Yakubu will be expected to overhaul consular service delivery, protect the welfare of Nigerian professionals and labourers across the Gulf, and build structured pathways for channelling diaspora remittances into productive investment at home.