The Presidency has rejected as false and misleading recent reports that claimed Nigeria was “snubbed” in the election to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).<\/p>\n
In a statement issued on Sunday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the Presidency clarified that Nigeria did not stand as a candidate in the 2024 election for the 2025-2027 term.<\/p>\n
On October 9, 2024, the United Nations General Assembly elected 18 new members to the Human Rights Council for three-year terms starting on January 1, 2025. The countries elected include Benin, Bolivia, Colombia, Cyprus, Czechia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Iceland, Kenya, Marshall Islands, Mexico, North Macedonia, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and Thailand.<\/p>\n
Onanuga emphasized that the African regional group had no competition in the election, with five candidates\u2014Benin, Gambia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia\u2014securing all five available seats. Nigeria, contrary to false reports circulating in the media, was not a candidate in this election cycle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no competition in the African regional group, and the continent fielded the same number of candidates as available seats. Contrary to misleading reports, Nigeria was not on the ballot for this election. This is similar to the situation in 2023 when Nigeria also did not stand for election to the Council,\u201d Onanuga explained.<\/p>\n
He further addressed the misinformation suggesting that Nigeria had garnered votes during the election, clarifying that any votes recorded for Nigeria were likely cast in error by member states unaware that Nigeria was not a candidate. \u201cWhatever vote was recorded for our country must have been cast in error in the secret balloting by some countries which thought Nigeria was on the ballot,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n
Onanuga went on to highlight the importance of regional endorsements in elections to international bodies such as the UNHRC. He noted that Nigeria, as a leader in African diplomacy, supported the candidacies of Benin and Gambia, both fellow members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in order to promote collective African representation on the Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis strategic approach reflects Nigeria\u2019s continued commitment to fostering African unity and ensuring that Africa speaks with a united voice on the global stage,\u201d Onanuga added. He emphasized that President Bola Tinubu\u2019s leadership has been instrumental in maintaining this collaborative approach, which aligns with Nigeria\u2019s long-standing foreign policy goals.<\/p>\n
The statement also took aim at sections of the media that had rushed to publish unverified information, urging them to cross-check their reports with the relevant authorities, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Nigeria\u2019s UN mission in New York, before publishing. \u201cThe media should cross-check their information before rushing to press. There was no sign this was done with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or our country\u2019s mission in New York,\u201d Onanuga stated.<\/p>\n
The Presidency urged Nigerians to exercise caution and refrain from hastily disparaging their country, particularly on international matters where the nation\u2019s reputation is at stake. \u201cAs Nigerians, we should not be quick to drag our country\u2019s name through the mud, especially on international platforms. Our foreign policy decisions are deliberate and based on strategic considerations,\u201d the statement concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Presidency has rejected as false and misleading recent reports that claimed Nigeria was “snubbed” in the election to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). In a statement issued on Sunday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the Presidency clarified that Nigeria did not stand as a candidate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51946"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51947,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51946\/revisions\/51947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}