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Claim
We found a claim on 14th October 2024, that was going viral on social media.
The claim was made by one social media user Sabina Nkiru, a legal professional with a high number of engagements on her verified X (formerly Twitter) account.
The full text of the claim reads:
“Shettima and Tinubu got 3 votes in the UN election as Nigeria seeks to join the UN Human Rights Council 😭
More Read
Ghana and Burundi were voted in with 179 and 168 votes respectively. Malawi (182 votes) and Côte d’Ivoire (181 votes) were reelected for a second term.” [sic]
The claim was made on X on 12 October, 2024 gathering over 1.3 million views, 4,927 reposts, 736 quotes, and also gathered 789 bookmarks with over 14,700 Likes—as at the time of collating this report.
About UN Human Rights Council
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental institution within the United Nations system made up of 47 member states that is in charge of promoting and protecting all human rights around the world.
The council addresses all thematic human rights issues and situations that arise throughout the year.
It meets at the United Nations Office in Geneva.
ROUNDCHECK Findings
Did Nigeria contest the election for UN Human Rights Council 2024?
There have been claims with several posts claiming that Nigeria contested the UN election for the Human Rights Council in 2024.
But how true? We did some checks.
According to a press statement from the State House signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, he debunked that Nigeria did not participate in the 2024 elections– similar to the previous year.
“Nigeria was not on the ballot in the election held on October 9. Any vote cast for our country was an error in the secret balloting process,” the statement clarified.
The press statement further added that the African regional group had endorsed five candidates—Benin, Gambia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia—who successfully secured all available seats.
That was the Nigerian government’s reaction to the claim.
Was Nigeria part of the Selected UN Human Rights Council for 2024?
According to a report published by UN Watch before the election which evaluated the candidate countries vying for seats on the UN Human Rights Council for the 2025-2027 term.
The report based its assessment on the criteria outlined in UNGA Resolution 60/251, which mandates that members “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights” and “fully cooperate with the Council.”
Evaluations focused on each candidate’s domestic human rights record and their voting behavior at the UN.
Moreover, according to the report, Nigeria did not participate in the election held in October 2024, where 18 new members were elected to the UN Human Rights Council for a three-year term.
The report categorizes the 19 candidate countries into three groups: Unqualified, Questionable, and Qualified.
Unqualified: Five countries are deemed to have poor human rights records, making them ineligible for membership.
These are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia.
Questionable: Seven countries have problematic human rights or voting records, including Benin, Colombia, Gambia, Kenya, Mexico, North Macedonia, and Thailand.
Qualified: Only seven countries are fully qualified to join the Council.
These are Cyprus, Czech Republic, Iceland, Marshall Islands, South Korea, Spain, and Switzerland.
The report highlights a concern regarding the lack of competition in four of the five regional slates, arguing that it undermines the election process.
Despite this, the report urges UN member states to exercise their legal right and moral obligation to refrain from voting for unqualified candidates, even if they are running unopposed.
It also suggests that member states can defeat unopposed candidates during the ballot, allowing for more qualified alternatives to be considered.
As for the questionable candidates, the report recommends they should be asked to address the shortcomings identified before being considered for Council membership.
Countries That Contested For UN Human Rights Council 2024
According to a report by the UN Human Rights Council, 18 out 19 Members of the State that contested won, except Saudi Arabia.
The elected members of state include:
Benin, Cyprus, Czechia, Bolivia (Plurinational), Iceland, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Marshall Islands, North Macedonia, Colombia, Spain, Ethiopia, Qatar, Mexico, Switzerland, Gambia, Republic of Korea, Kenya, and Thailand.
Verdict
According to our findings, Nigeria did not participate in the October 2024 UN Human Rights Council election.
There is NO EVIDENCE to back the claim made by Sabina Nkiru stating that Nigeria received only three votes in the 2024 UN Human Rights Council election– since the country did not contest at all.
