Jimoh Ibrahim, Nigeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, has defended President Bola Tinubu’s absence at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Ibrahim spoke on ‘Beyond The Headline’, a Television Continental (TVC) programme, on Thursday, noting that Tinubu cannot attend the event just to deliver a 15-minute speech.
Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, had said Tinubu would not attend the 81st UNGA because he is currently on annual leave.
Idris said Tinubu had mandated Vice-President Kashim Shettima to lead Nigeria’s delegation to the high-level session in New York, United States.
The minister’s comment followed criticism from former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who faulted the president’s absence at the gathering.
Atiku had questioned Tinubu’s decision to stay away from the general debate for the third consecutive year, saying the president’s “persistent avoidance” of the United States raises questions.
The former vice-president also questioned why Tinubu did not show up after Ibrahim reportedly said arrangements had been made for the president to sit close to US President Donald Trump at the general assembly.
Atiku further linked Tinubu’s absence to his past legal history in the US and asked: “Is Tinubu afraid that he could become Donald Trump’s next Nicolás Maduro?”
However, Ibrahim said Tinubu’s absence should not be taken as a big deal because many presidents of other countries did not attend the gathering in person.
“What do you think President Tinubu is coming to do?” he queried.
“The presidents are allowed in the UN under UNGA for 15 minutes. Is that the reason why he should board the flight and be here for 15 minutes?”
He said Shettima had, in Tinubu’s absence, attended high-level meetings and met with Nigerians in the diaspora, describing the engagement as ideal.
“This is the kind of engagement we want, not that the president will just be inside the plane and be coming to UNGA for a 15-minute speech. What is the meaning of that? We don’t want that,” Ibrahim said.
Ibrahim, who was appointed chairman of the budget and administration committee for UNGA’s Fifth Committee in June, said 60 percent of those on the speaking list at the gathering were foreign affairs ministers and vice-presidents.
“As permanent representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, if I’m to do a memo to the president at the last minute of boarding the plane to go to UNGA, do you think I will recommend the president to be on his way when 60 percent of the speaking list of 193 countries are ministers and vice-presidents representing their countries?” he queried.
“There are exigencies. If the speaking list is 90 presidents, maybe of course, the president can come. I don’t think the president should come and be where his equivalent is a minister of foreign affairs of another country.”
The envoy also said the country occupied a prominent position at UNGA, arguing that Tinubu’s physical presence was not necessary.
“I promise that Nigeria will be on the front-row seat at UNGA. Are we not on the front-row seat? Nigeria is sitting at number eight seat in the UN under UNGA and America is at number 26th seat at the back of Nigeria’s seat,” he said.
“And you know, Donald Trump didn’t go to sit on his own seat. He came in to give a lecture at the UNGA and went back from there.
“Are you saying that Nigeria is making the impact it is supposed to make globally? Must we have President Tinubu here before we can make the impact?”
Speaking on what the composition of the speaking list implied, Ibrahim said reforms were being planned to increase the impact of the organisation on member-states.
“That is the reform we are taking on effective from October 1st. When I chair the budget and administrative committee, 90 percent of UN resources is spent at the headquarters, while 10 percent goes to member-states,” he said.
“So legitimacy is reduced because member-states are not seeing impacts of the United Nations. We are going to reverse that.”
