Shettima to Speak for Nigeria at UNGA
Vice President Kashim Shettima will deliver Nigeria’s national statement at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday after President Bola Tinubu stayed in Europe on leave, a choice the Presidency insists is routine diplomacy and the opposition has treated as a slight.
The 81st session’s general debate opens today in New York under the theme “Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all,” and runs through 28 September. Information Minister Mohammed Idris said Tinubu’s absence was not a diplomatic setback and warned opposition parties not to damage the country’s standing with “unbridled” commentary. Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said Shettima had been mandated to lead the delegation and to hold bilateral and multilateral meetings in the president’s name. Tinubu spoke for Nigeria in 2023; Shettima did so in 2024 and 2025.
Former vice-president Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress argued that skipping the gathering diminished Nigeria’s presence and hinted that Tinubu might be avoiding the United States. Onanuga called those remarks, and similar claims by a U.S.-based lobbying group, “baseless” and “irresponsible.” Ademola Oshodi, the president’s senior aide on foreign affairs and protocol, said there was “absolutely no impediment” to Tinubu entering America. He called talk of arrest or visa trouble “pure politics” in “a silly season.” Tinubu attended the 78th Assembly in 2023 and visited Los Angeles in 2025.
Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, Nigeria’s permanent representative, said more than 60 percent of invited presidents and prime ministers would be represented this year by vice-presidents or foreign ministers. Shettima landed on Sunday night with Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Minister of State for Budget and Economic Planning Doris Uzoka-Anite and other officials. Foreign Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Ibrahim briefed him before the debate.
Shettima said Nigeria would press Tinubu’s case for institutions that are “more representative, equitable and responsive,” speak from national interest, and seek “a global system that gives developing countries a stronger voice.” The Presidency listed a permanent Security Council seat – argued on population, peacekeeping, regional security and the size of Africa’s largest economy; plus reform of the financial architecture, climate finance and technology, and a larger African say in decisions that already bind the continent.
State governors are using the same week as a trade fair. Fubara is shopping partnerships around Rivers oil and gas, while Nasarawa’s Abdullahi Sule and Kebbi’s Nasir Idris are expected to talk solid minerals. Kwara’s AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Borno’s Babagana Zulum and Lagos’s Babajide Sanwo-Olu are also listed among the official party.
