The Federal Government of Nigeria has explained its position on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
At the 36th Session of the State House Briefing in Abuja on Thursday, the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada explained that Nigeria’s bilateral relations are focused on Africa and promotion of international cooperation, settlement of disputes and are guided by the provisions of Section 191 of the 1999 constitution as amended.
We earlier reported that Nigeria voted in favor of the UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which began on February 22 but abstained during the vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.
Russia was subsequently suspended from the Council.
Dada said the country supported the push to end Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine because it believed it was contrary to international law.
But Nigeria did not vote to suspend Russia from UN Human Rights Council because, at the time, there was no substantial evidence that Russia was responsible for the deaths in Ukraine.
“Nigeria voted in favor of UN General Assembly resolution ES-1/1 condemning the aggression against Ukraine and called for the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of all its (Russia) military forces as a signatory to the United Nations charter. This is because the invasion is against international law and the UN charter.
“With regard to resolution A/ES-11/L.4, seeking to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, Nigeria abstained because the allegation of violation of human rights abuses had not been substantiated,” he said.
He said Nigeria was not convinced with what was playing out at the time.
Revealing a pro-Russia understanding of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the
minister explained that Russia believes that Ukraine, which is in its backyard, is part and parcel of Russia.
“We all know the politics behind some of these issues, we probably don’t want to get dragged into them and we have so many issues in our hands back home.
“But as members of the international community, we said we have to be concerned with the happenings in all other parts of the globe because whether we like it or not it will definitely have some effect on our collective interest,” he stated.
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