Nigeria silent on Palestinian UN bid
West African state refuses to reveal how it will vote on Palestinian bid for recognition, despite PA's claim that Nigeria has pledged its support; Foreign Ministry spokesman: Asserting our stance would be 'diplomatically tactless'
Nigeria is refusing to say how it will vote when the United Nations Security Council decides on the Palestinians' request for UN membership, as increasing diplomatic pressure mounts on the oil-rich West African nation.
Nigeria appears to be a crucial vote as Palestinians try to secure support from at least nine of the 15 council members. The US has said it will veto the request. However, the US could avoid that if Palestinians fail to get those nine votes.
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On Thursday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki told reporters that both Nigeria and Gabon assured him of their support. Damian Agwu, a spokesman for Nigeria's Foreign Ministry, said Sunday that Africa's most populous nation had yet to offer their support to anyone on the matter.
United Nations Security Council (Photo: AFP)
"We have noted the positions of both parties. Both have been lobbying Nigeria both inside the country and outside," Agwu told The Associated Press. "We are keeping how are voting on that close to our chest."
Assertion would be 'diplomatically tactless'
Agwu said Nigeria supported a "two-state solution" for Israel and the Palestinians, but said it would "diplomatically tactless" for the country to say now how it will vote.
The Palestinian group has asked the UN to grant full membership to a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Nigeria, a non-permanent member of the Security Council serving a yearlong term on the body, is viewed as a swing vote.
The diplomatic push on Nigeria has already begun, with Palestinian officials saying they planned to send a delegation to the country to argue their case. But oil-rich Nigeria already falls under the strong influence of the US, which is one of the country's top buyers of crude oil pumped from its southern delta. The United Kingdom also carries heavy political power in its former colony as well.
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