Tinubu will deliver permanent UN Security Council seat for Nigeria — Jimoh Ibrahim

Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, has said President Bola Tinubu will secure a permanent seat for Nigeria on the United Nations Security Council, citing the President’s sustained campaign for stronger African representation in the global body.

Ibrahim made the assertion on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television, where he said Tinubu had consistently maintained that Africa’s exclusion from the council’s permanent membership was unjust and remained one of his key priorities on the international stage.

“His (Tinubu) major argument is that why is it that United Nations did not admit any African country into the permanent seat of the Security Council. This worries him a lot,” Ibrahim said.

He stated that the President had continued to use major international engagements to press for reforms that would give Africa, with Nigeria in particular, permanent representation on the Security Council.

“His speeches that he delivered pointed to the fact that he was not happy with the idea of UN not admitting Africa, particularly Nigeria, to the Security Council,” he added.

The United Nations Security Council is made up of five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — each holding veto power over substantive resolutions, alongside 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.

Nigeria last occupied a non-permanent seat on the Security Council from 2014 to 2015, marking its fifth term on the body. The country has continued to campaign for permanent membership, pointing to its population, economic strength and longstanding contributions to United Nations peacekeeping missions.

ALSO READ: Senate proposes N50,000 fine for preaching, hawking inside commercial vehicles

Ibrahim noted that restructuring the Security Council would not be easy because the institution’s present composition was established about 80 years ago, before the independence of many African countries, including Nigeria.

He, however, expressed confidence that the ongoing reform process would eventually produce the desired outcome.

“The good news is I can assure you that President Tinubu will secure a Security Council seat very soon,” Ibrahim said.

The ambassador also revealed that Tinubu had engaged Ghanaian President John Mahama on the issue.

He said Mahama recently played a significant role in securing United Nations recognition of the transatlantic slave trade as one of the gravest crimes against humanity, describing it as evidence of Africa’s increasing influence in global decision-making.