Nigeria chairs UN budget committee elections; Mauritania, Israel win seats
- Nigeria's UN envoy Jimoh Ibrahim chaired Fifth Committee elections during the 81st General Assembly session.
- Mauritania's candidate won the International Civil Service Commission chair with 102 votes against Zimbabwe's 82.
- Israel's Shai Mazai was recommended for the Independent Audit Advisory Committee with 134 votes.
Nigeria has presided over elections for key United Nations committee posts, with its ambassador to the UN directing that ballot boxes be opened for inspection before voting began.
Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, Nigeria's permanent representative to the UN, chaired the exercise in the General Assembly's Fifth Committee during the 81st session. The committee handles the UN's administrative and budgetary matters.
The elections covered seats on the International Civil Service Commission, the Independent Audit Advisory Committee, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, the Committee on Contributions and the Investment Committee.
The contests
In the race for chair of the International Civil Service Commission, Mauritania's candidate won 102 votes to defeat Zimbabwe's candidate, who polled 82, according to Channels TV. ThisDay named the winner as Sidi Mohamed and the Zimbabwean candidate as Mrs Maria.
The reports said 93 votes were needed for a majority. ThisDay put the turnout at 187 ballot papers, with 186 valid and one invalid.
Israel's Shai Mazai was recommended for the Independent Audit Advisory Committee with 134 votes, representing the Group of Western European and Other States. Both appointments are for terms beginning in early January 2027 — Channels TV said January 1, while ThisDay said January 2.
Other candidates from different regional groups were recommended to the civil service commission by acclamation where seats were uncontested.
According to ThisDay, Ibrahim told delegates after the vote: "Let me remind them that the Fifth Committee is a very high-standing committee, and everybody must contribute and work hard to the integrity of the committee."
He thanked member states and the officials who supervised the elections, and asked the committee's rapporteur to send the decisions to the General Assembly.
Why it matters
The Fifth Committee decides how the UN spends its money and how its staff are appointed — questions that affect every member country, including Nigeria, which pays assessed dues to the organisation.
Nigeria chairing the process puts a Nigerian diplomat at the centre of those decisions for this session, a visible role for the country in UN affairs.
The recommendations now go to the full General Assembly, which is expected to confirm the appointments before the new terms start in January.
