Nigeria Will Support UN Candidate Based on Fairness – Shettima

Vice President Kashim Shettima has said Nigeria will stand for equity, justice and fairness in its support for any candidate seeking the position of United Nations Secretary-General, as he met with Costa Rican candidate Rebeca Grynspan.

During the meeting in New York, Shettima said Nigeria would also support a candidate who believes in Africa’s aspirations in global affairs, particularly securing positions in key decision-making bodies and promoting multilateralism.

He said he would recommend Grynspan’s candidacy on the basis of Nigeria’s relationship with Latin America and gender inclusion, among other factors.

“Thank you for seeking Nigeria’s perspective for your candidature of the United Nations Secretary-General. Nigeria and Costa Rica share a common historical background connecting both countries and their regions,” Shettima said.

“We also have a cordial relationship with Latin America, and we do not wish to jeopardise it. Beyond our historical ties and relations rest our interest in conflict prevention, multilateralism, and the peace of our nations.”

The vice president emphasised the need to reform the global governance architecture, which he said had changed between 1945 and 2026 but had yet to reflect the integration of Africa, with its population estimated at over 1.3 billion people.

Grynspan, who met with Shettima to seek Nigeria’s support for her candidacy, said she was eager to lead the UN in implementing reforms that most countries, particularly in the Global South, are advocating for.

“Coming from the Global South, I represent the interests and demands of the region. I also have a soft spot for Africa. I know the continent and its aspirations,” she said.

She added that her candidacy would promote an agenda that prioritises peace above other interests, assuring that Africa’s ambition of being a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council would be given urgent attention and actualised.

In a related development, Nigeria and the Netherlands have agreed to deepen collaboration to improve financial inclusion across different levels of Nigerian society.

The arrangement was reached during a bilateral meeting between Shettima and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands in New York. Under the arrangement, the Netherlands will leverage its expertise and experience in financial health to support programmes implemented by Nigeria on financial inclusion.

Shettima welcomed the offer of support, saying the Netherlands’ focus on financial health and inclusion was “not only apt but timely,” noting that for Nigeria, the policy has a direct link to education, security and poverty reduction.

He listed some of the programmes already being implemented by government to boost the policy, including the conditional cash transfer initiative and schemes in the agricultural sector, emphasising that the results were already yielding fruits across different sectors.

The vice president also disclosed that government policies have positioned some of Africa’s top fintech companies to play critical roles in Nigeria’s journey to achieving financial inclusion for most of its excluded population.

While justifying the reforms undertaken by the administration of President Bola Tinubu, Shettima said the reforms were inevitable given the state of the economy at the onset of the administration in 2023.