US backs UN security council permanent seats’ bid for Nigeria, Africa

The United States would support two permanent seats for African states on the UN Security Council, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the American ambassador to the United Nations, said on Thursday, September 12.

The announcement, which echoes a similar call from the UN Secretary General António Guterres to overhaul the Council so it would reflect the world powers of the 21st century, comes ahead of the UN General Assembly later this month, the New York Times reported.

The Security Council has 15 members, five of which have permanent seats with veto power: the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. The other 10 members of the Council rotate every two years.

Adding any new permanent members would require the approval of all five permanent members and changing the UN charter, a dim prospect given the divisions among the permanent members, the report said.

Adding only African countries as permanent members would likely get pushback from other countries, including Japan, Brazil, India, Germany and Italy. For years, those nations have also lobbied for seats, arguing that the world had evolved since the aftermath of World War II when the world body was founded.