US President Joe Biden has pledged support to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Nigeria seeks a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Mr. Biden highlighted Nigeria’s leadership role in Africa and significant contributions to global peacekeeping operations as key factors supporting this initiative.
Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tugar disclosed this while briefing Statehouse correspondents on President Biden’s call with the Nigerian leader on Tuesday at 4pm.
Tager said the two leaders spoke for about 30 minutes on issues of mutual interest to both countries.
The minister further expressed President Biden’s gratitude to the Nigerian leadership for the partnership and cooperation between Nigeria and the United States on law enforcement and for the release of Binance executive Tigran Gambariyan, one of the suspects at the cryptocurrency exchange. It was also revealed that it represented
Tager said President Biden also promised that Nigeria-US partnership would continue, adding that the future of the world lies in Africa.
“Today at approximately 4:00 p.m., the two leaders exchanged pleasantries and President Biden expressed his appreciation for President Tinubu’s partnership and Nigeria’s, especially the cooperation between the two countries on law enforcement and legislation.” In addition to the agency’s announcement, one of the suspects from the virtual currency exchange company (Binance) was also released.
“The two leaders also discussed the issue of permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council, with President Biden reassuring us that the United States is committed to securing two permanent seats in Africa, and He also reiterated that he saw no reason why one of those seats should not belong to Nigeria, considering its status, its status and importance in Africa,” the minister added.
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Tager further disclosed that President Tinubu, in response, also thanked President Biden and the United States for their partnership and cooperation in many areas, and also discussed issues of cooperation on security in Africa, particularly West Africa.
“As everyone knows, President Biden will not be in the election and will be leaving office soon. Therefore, the two leaders also expressed their closeness to each other, their relationship, and their previous meetings, including the G20 meeting. This is also a great thing.”This is a region that is working hard to ensure that Nigeria becomes a member of the G20 and, of course, that we will stay in touch even if President Biden leaves office. He concluded by saying that he was looking forward to it.
“And it’s also important to emphasize the fact that the phone call made it clear that Nigeria is a country ruled by the rule of law. America is a country guided by the rule of law, and we have the power to follow their processes, ours. processes, and the United States equally recognizes and respects those processes.
“President Tinubu, during the course of the discussion, noted that our system of governance is very similar to that of the United States and that we have returned to civilian government and constitutional democracy to adopt our own system of governance. In 1999, it adopted a US-style governance system.
“Therefore, the rule of law is very important and that is why we have these processes and both leaders assured that they will continue to cooperate in this regard,” he said. .
Tigran Gambariyan, a US national, was arrested on a business trip to Nigeria in February and later charged with his company Binance for $35.4 million in money laundering and tax evasion, charges they deny.
This follows the escape from custody of Binance’s Africa regional manager, colleague Nadeem Anjalwala, a dual British-Kenyan national who was arrested in Nigeria along with Gambarian.
It will be recalled that Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) last week announced in an Abuja court that it would drop money laundering charges against Mr. Tigran Gambalyan and allow him to undergo treatment abroad.
