President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made history as the first Nigerian President to receive the proposed United Nations budget in 66 years.
The President received copies of the proposed 2027 UN budget from Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, at the State House, Abuja.
Ibrahim, who currently chairs the UN Fifth Committee responsible for budgetary and administrative matters, presented the seven-volume document to the President on Sunday.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the presentation, Ibrahim described the moment as historic for Nigeria.
“This is the presentation of the United Nations proposed budget for 2027 that was presented to me by the General Assembly, by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the Fifth Committee, and that budget has seven volumes,” Ibrahim said.
“So it has to be presented to my country because my country is a member of the United Nations. I share the budget at the committee, so the appropriate thing to do is to bring the budget home and deliver it to the President.
“This is the first time in 66 years that Nigeria will share the budget in the committee. The first time. So I don’t know when we’re going to do that again in history.”
He added, “President Bola Tinubu is making history to have been able to receive that budget, being the first President in 66 years to receive such a budget from the United Nations, and it’s not a small issue for a country to receive the whole UN budget.”
According to Ibrahim, the proposed budget covers the UN’s regular activities and global peacekeeping operations. He disclosed that about $3.4 billion is allocated to the regular budget and $8.5 billion for peacekeeping, bringing the total to about $14 billion, though the two components he cited sum up to $11.9 billion.
He stressed that the document remains a proposal and is yet to receive final approval from UN member states.
“The budget still has to be approved. This is a proposed budget. It’s at the proposed stage. You submit it to your country, and thereafter the budget is finally discussed. Figures are adjusted, and then finally the final budget is approved and spending commences,” he explained.
When asked what Nigeria stands to benefit from the budget, Ibrahim said discussions were still ongoing and declined to give specifics, but cited the construction of a $267 million UN conference centre in Kenya as an example of UN investments in member states.
The proposed $14 billion budget will undergo further scrutiny, adjustments and negotiations before member states approve the final figures for spending in 2027.
