China Backs Nigeria Bid for UNSC Permanent Seat

The People’s Republic of China has thrown its weight behind Nigeria’s bid to occupy a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. Speaker of the People’s Parliament of China, Mr. Zhang Dejiang, expressed his country’s endorsement during a meeting with the Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, in New York, United States, Sunday. According to a statement issued by Dogara’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, the meeting held on the sidelines of the ongoing Convention of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Dejiang called for a better representation of developing nations in the UN, adding that Nigeria, with its growing influence on the global stage deserved a seat on the UNSC. “We support the legitimate demands of Nigeria for a permanent seat on the UN security council, together with the reform of the UN,” Dejiang said. He further pledged his country’s support for Nigeria in the fight against terrorism. Speaking earlier, Dogara had appealed for China’s support for Nigeria’s bid for the UNSC seat as calls for reform of the UN system continue. He also called for a downward review of the five percent tax on Nigeria’s Agricultural exports to China, to boost trade relations in the non-oil sector. Meanwhile, both Speakers gave the nod for the establishment of a parliamentary friendship group between the parliaments of both countries.