Africa’s Push for Permanent Security Council Seats Remains Stalled at UNGA81

Abuja, Nigeria – Africa’s decades-long push for permanent Security Council representation returns to the spotlight at the 81st UN General Assembly, as world leaders renew demands to overhaul a council whose five permanent members have remained static since 1945.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his final General Assembly address on Tuesday, reiterated the need for Security Council reform, emphasising that the body must be more representative and reflect contemporary geopolitical realities.

Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima, reading President Bola Tinubu’s national statement, demanded at least two permanent African seats with veto power for as long as the veto remains, alongside five non-permanent seats.

Ghana’s President John Mahama echoed the call: “Security Council reform is not a favour to Africa; it is essential for the UN’s legitimacy, credibility, and very survival.”

These renewed appeals underscore the magnitude of Africa’s demand. Yet converting them into a consensus that restructures the Council remains a formidable challenge.

A reform process that has stalled

The Security Council comprises 15 members: five permanent members—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—and 10 non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms.

The five permanent members wield veto power, enabling any one of them to block a substantive resolution.

No African nation holds a permanent seat.

Yet Africa remains central to much of the Council’s work. In 2025 alone, the Council adopted 44 resolutions, 24 of them under Chapter VII of the UN Charter—which authorises sanctions and the use of force.

Eighteen of those 24 Chapter VII resolutions directly concerned Africa.

For Professor Ibrahim Gambari, former Nigerian foreign minister and ex-permanent representative to the UN, the issue transcends geography.

“The status quo has little interest in change,” he told Al Jazeera. “The appointment of the Secretary-General requires the consent of all five permanent members, so we have an unelected P5 that they are unwilling to surrender.”

Gambari argued that Africa’s absence is hard to justify given the continent’s size and the volume of Council business concerning it.

“Africa is the largest single bloc, yet it has no permanent seat on the Security Council,” he noted.

The General Assembly began the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform in 2008. These talks cover the Council’s size, membership categories, regional representation, and the veto, and have persisted through successive sessions without consensus on the core issues.

Altering the Council’s permanent membership would require a UN Charter amendment. Under Article 108, that demands approval by two-thirds of the General Assembly and ratification by two-thirds of UN members, including all five permanent members.

This gives the existing permanent members a formal say in any change to the system that grants them their privileged status.

Nigeria wants a permanent seat

Which African countries would fill any new permanent seats remains another unresolved question.

Nigeria has consistently positioned itself as a candidate for such a role. At this year’s General Assembly, it renewed its call for at least two permanent African seats with full rights, including the veto for as long as it exists.

Dr Fola Aina, a political scientist and international security expert at SOAS, London, told Al Jazeera that the issue holds particular significance for Nigeria.

“Securing this position would elevate Nigeria’s global diplomatic influence, give Africa a continuous voice in international security decisions, and allow Nigeria to consolidate its status as a regional hegemon and middle power,” he said.

“The timing of Nigeria’s push is particularly strategic in the current era of great-power competition.”

Nigeria is not alone; Egypt and South Africa have also sought permanent representation, while other African states have expressed interest.

The African Union, however, has not designated specific countries for the proposed seats. Its common position calls for at least two permanent African seats and five non-permanent seats on an expanded Council, with the AU deciding which nations represent the continent.

The veto question

Even if agreement is reached on who represents Africa, another obstacle remains: the veto.

The African Union’s Ezulwini Consensus demands that any permanent African members enjoy the same rights and privileges as existing permanent members, including veto power for as long as the veto system persists.

African governments argue that adding permanent seats without equivalent powers would not fully correct the imbalance they seek to address.

This leaves two separate questions: whether the Council should expand at all, and what powers any new permanent members would hold.

A question of influence

Gambari argues that Africa’s absence also hampers the Council’s day-to-day work.

“All these peacekeeping missions in Africa are based on Security Council mandates,” he said.

“The P5 assign themselves as penholders, which barely allows elected non-permanent African countries to initiate draft resolutions affecting their region.”

He said the imbalance is also visible in how Security Council missions operate on the continent.

“Even Security Council missions to Africa are no longer led by Africans. How can parties in dispute trust such a team?” he asked.

“Even for the Security Council’s continued relevance, it must be reformed so that Africa has representatives in the permanent seat category.”

For Favour Aniezi, a Nigerian creative and youth advocate, the issue is also about who wields influence over decisions affecting the continent.

“Beyond representation, Africa’s absence from permanent seats is about whose voice shapes decisions affecting the continent,” she told Al Jazeera.

“As a young Nigerian woman, I believe it matters that Africa is not only present when global institutions discuss our challenges but also has a meaningful role in deciding how those challenges are addressed. We should not just be represented at the table; Africa should have a voice with the weight to influence outcomes.”

For now, the core questions remain unresolved: how many new permanent members there should be, which African countries would fill the seats, whether they would receive veto power, and whether existing permanent members would accept the changes.

“As long as they cling to this anachronistic formula, reforms will remain elusive,” Gambari said.

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