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Nigeria has assumed the chairmanship of the UN General Assembly’s Fifth Committee, placing the country at the centre of decisions on the organisation’s budget, administration and financial governance.
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Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim has promised to break with “business as usual”, insisting that every dollar spent by the United Nations must be justified, transparent and tied to measurable results.
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The Nigerian envoy said the committee would scrutinise the efficiency of the UN Secretariat, including its administrative structure, expenditure patterns and the estimated $110 billion staff pension fund.
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Nigeria’s leadership comes amid growing pressure for UN reform, with Ibrahim pledging to build consensus among member states and ensure that resources serve the countries and people the organisation was created to support.
September 04, (THEWILL) — Nigeria has assumed the chairmanship of the United Nations General Assembly’s Fifth Committee, putting the country at the centre of negotiations and decisions over the organisation’s finances, administration and institutional efficiency.
Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, who assumed the chairmanship for the 81st session, has pledged to use the position to push far-reaching reforms aimed at strengthening transparency, accountability and value for money within the world body.
Ibrahim took over from Hungary’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Zsuzsanna Horváth, who chaired the committee during the 80th session.
The Nigerian envoy, who was elected to the position on June 2, barely six weeks after assuming his diplomatic assignment, said Nigeria would not approach the responsibility as “business as usual.”
“Nigeria’s priority is to ensure that we have reforms around budget and administration that will showcase transparency and accountability,” he said.
The Fifth Committee, formally known as the Administrative and Budgetary Committee, is responsible for considering the financial and administrative affairs of the United Nations.
Its mandate makes it one of the most strategically important committees of the General Assembly because decisions on virtually every UN programme and mandate require financial and administrative backing.
The committee deals with issues including the organisation’s budgets, financial governance, human resources, institutional efficiency, oversight and the resources required to implement mandates approved by member states.
Every UN Dollar Must Be Accounted For
Ibrahim said Nigeria would insist on a results-oriented financial system in which spending by the United Nations translates into tangible benefits for its 193 member states.
“We will insist that the United Nations should impact Member States and not just the Secretariat. For us, every dollar is important. There must be justification for the utilisation of funds, because every dollar is key to UN reform,” he said.
The position places value for money at the heart of Nigeria’s agenda, with the ambassador stressing that accountability should not stop at accounting for money spent.
He said the real test should be whether expenditure achieves its intended purpose and delivers meaningful results to the countries and populations for which the United Nations exists.
According to him, the committee must ensure that administrative structures and expenditure patterns are aligned with the priorities and expectations of member states.
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Nigeria Targets UN Bureaucracy
One of the major areas Nigeria intends to scrutinise is the efficiency of the UN Secretariat, particularly its administrative structure and the resources devoted to maintaining it.
Ibrahim raised concerns about the size of the organisation’s top-level bureaucracy, arguing that excessive administrative structures could limit the UN’s ability to create new opportunities and respond effectively to emerging demands.
“We will look at the heavy nature of the UN Secretariat at the top that does not give enough room for new job creation. Efficiency of the United Nations will be a focus of attention,” he said.
The envoy said resources should not be disproportionately absorbed by bureaucracy when they could be deployed to areas capable of producing greater impact. He said greater efficiency was particularly important at a time when the United Nations was being asked to do more while facing financial constraints and increasingly complex global crises.
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