By FORTUNE ABANG

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced Nigeria’s emergence as chairman of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council for the Month of May 2026.

The ministry’s Spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja, saying the last time Nigeria chaired the Council was in December, 2022.

According to him, Nigeria, being the only AU member state to have been in the council since its inception in the year 2004, will bring institutional memory to the leadership of the Council.

Kimiebi said, “During the month of May, 2026, Nigeria will lead the Council on discussions around a number of thematic and country-specific issues of interest to both the West African/Sahel Region and the continent in general.

“Some of the issues that will be considered include the impact of Climate Change on the crisis situation in the Lake Chad Basin and Sahel regions; African strategies for combating Transnational Organised Crime in Africa.

“Others are the Draft 5-year AU Continental Counter Terrorism Strategic Plan of Action; operationalization of the African Standby Force; and the Operationalisation of the Combined Maritime Task Force in addressing Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea; among others.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the AU PSC consists of 15 members elected by the Executive Council and endorsed by the AU Assembly, serving two or three-year terms based on regional representation.

Also the current membership of the AU PSC consists of Nigeria, Benin, Gabon, Algeria, Lesotho, Morocco, Somalia, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Eswatini. (NAN)

• File photo: The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu. Photo: Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu via X