Nigeria has assumed the chairmanship of the UN General Assembly Fifth Committee, pledging to champion transparency, accountability and far-reaching administrative reforms.

The committee, formally known as the Administrative and Budgetary Committee, considers the financial and administrative affairs of the United Nations. Its work places it at the heart of decisions on the organisation’s budgets, financial governance, human resources, institutional efficiency, oversight and the resources required to implement mandates approved by member states.

Speaking as Nigeria takes up the leadership of the influential committee, its permanent representative to the UN, Jimoh Ibrahim, said the chairmanship would not be approached as “business as usual”.

“Nigeria’s priority is to ensure that we have reforms around budget and administration that will showcase transparency and accountability,” he said.

Mr Ibrahim said Nigeria would promote a results-oriented approach that ensures UN expenditures ultimately translate into tangible benefits for the organisation’s 193 member states.

“We will insist that the United Nations should impact Member States and not just the Secretariat,” said Mr Ibrahim. “For us, every dollar is important. There must be justification for the utilisation of funds, because every dollar is key to UN reform.”

The Nigerian envoy identified the efficiency of the UN system as a major focus of his chairmanship, stressing the need to examine whether institutional structures deliver optimum value continually.

“We will look at the heavy nature of the UN Secretariat at the top that does not give enough room for new job creation,” he said. “Efficiency of the United Nations will be a focus of attention.”

Mr Ibrahim said the committee must examine how administrative structures and expenditure patterns could be better aligned with the priorities and expectations of member states. According to him, accountability should go beyond accounting for expenditure to demonstrating what such expenditure has achieved for countries and peoples for whom the United Nations exists.

(NAN)