Explainer: why Nigeria wants permanent Security Council seats for Africa

Every September, world leaders take turns at the podium of the UN General Assembly in New York. This year Nigeria used its slot to repeat a demand it has made for years: Africa must have permanent seats on the UN Security Council.

Vice President Kashim Shettima delivered the national statement on behalf of President Bola Tinubu at the 81st session on Thursday, 24 September. He called for at least two permanent seats for Africa, with all the rights of permanent membership, including the veto. “The world of 2026 cannot remain captive to the distribution of power in 1945,” he said.

How the Council works

The Security Council is the UN body charged with maintaining international peace and security, and its decisions can bind member states. It has 15 members. Five are permanent: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, each of which can veto decisions. The other ten are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms.

Africa has no permanent member, even though much of the Council’s work concerns the continent. Al Jazeera reports that 18 of the 24 resolutions adopted in 2025 under Chapter VII, the Council’s enforcement powers, related to Africa.

The African Union’s common position, known as the Ezulwini Consensus, asks for two permanent seats with the same rights as existing permanent members, including the veto, plus five additional non-permanent seats. Nigeria’s statement followed that line, and other African leaders, including Ghana’s President John Mahama, made similar calls at this year’s session.

Why it keeps stalling

Changing the Council means amending the UN Charter. Under Article 108, an amendment must be adopted by two-thirds of the General Assembly and then ratified by two-thirds of UN members, including all five permanent members. In other words, the countries that hold the veto must agree to share their privileged position.

Formal intergovernmental negotiations on reform have run since 2008 without agreement on the core questions. Africa has another hurdle of its own: the African Union has not said which countries would fill its seats, and Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa are among the countries seeking them.

What next: Reform talks continue at the UN, but change will not come quickly. Expect Nigeria to keep pressing the case, both at the African Union and in New York.