From Abuja, Juliana Taiwo-Obaronye
The Presidency has rejected claims that Nigeria was ignored by the United Nations General Assembly on October 9, when 18 new members of the Human Rights Council were elected for the 2025-2027 term.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Assistant to the President on Information and Strategy, in a statement clarified that Nigeria did not stand as a candidate, contrary to circulating reports suggesting that Nigeria was ignored in the election.
Outgoing members include Argentina, Benin, Cameroon, Eritrea, Finland, Gambia, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Montenegro, Paraguay, Qatar, Somalia, United Arab Emirates, and the United States, with Nigeria absent. I am doing it. The vote sparked controversy.
Mr. Onanuga explained that the Human Rights Council, which is made up of 47 member states, is responsible for promoting and protecting human rights globally. He added that the recent elections were held by secret ballot and the new members are scheduled to begin their terms on January 1, 2025. Outgoing members also included the United States and India, which are not eligible for re-election after serving consecutive terms.
Citing a United Nations report on the conference, he said Argentina, Cameroon, Eritrea, India and Somalia, who served two consecutive terms, were not eligible for immediate re-election.
Albania, Algeria, Brazil, China, Ghana, Japan and South Africa will also continue to serve on the Board.
In the African regional group, supported candidates from Benin, Gambia, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia succeeded in securing all five seats available.
“In the African Regional Group, we fielded as many candidates as there were seats available, so there was no competition,” he said.
“Contrary to the prevailing information, Nigeria was not slighted in this election as some news reports have falsely claimed.
“The country did not stand in this election, just as it did not stand in the 2023 elections when the Nigerian media sensationally reported that Nigeria’s vote share was 3.
“The same lies have been rehashed in a false report that has been circulated.Again, Nigeria did not vote in the elections held on October 9th. Whatever the vote was, it must have been cast by mistake in a secret ballot by some country that thought Nigeria was on the ballot.
“For those familiar with elections to international organizations, especially prestigious bodies like the Human Rights Council, the countries vying for the position usually have regional support.
“The regional bloc has recognized ECOWAS members Benin and Gambia for a term from 2025 to 2027.”
Mr. Onanuga noted that Nigeria remains committed to supporting favored candidates from Africa, adding, “Given Nigeria’s continued leadership in promoting African unity, the nation is committed to promoting collective African representation.” We focused on supporting the candidates we support.”
“This is a hallmark of President Bola Tinubu’s leadership on the continent. This strategic approach is consistent with Nigeria’s longstanding diplomatic efforts to ensure Africa has a unified voice on the world stage.”
He asked media outlets to verify information before publishing.
“The media should cross-check their information before rushing to report. There was no evidence that this was done by the Foreign Office or our mission in New York.
“As Nigerians, we should not be so quick to belittle our country or drag our feet, especially when it comes to international issues,” he said.
