Adoke re-elected into UN law body

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, was re-elected into the International Law Commission on Thursday, just as Nigeria won a seat on the Governing Board of the United Nations Environmental Programme, the Empowered Newswire has reported.Adoke, who had been nominated by the Federal Government to contest the ILC election at the United Nations headquarters in New York, emerged among the 34 members of the commission elected after two rounds of voting by the General Assembly of the UN. While Nigeria won in the first round, a second round of voting had to be conducted for countries in Asia in order to complete their election requirements.The General Assembly met to fill vacancies in administrative and legal organisations within the UN, by voting to elect members of the ILC. Adoke contested alongside 13 others for the nine slots reserved for Africa in the commission.Commenting on his victory in New York, the justice minister said he was grateful to President Goodluck Jonathan for nominating him for the position.He thanked Nigerias Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the UN, Prof. Joy Ogwu, for mustering support for him in the election.Adoke said he looked forward to contributing his best to ensure the progressive development of international law and its codification, as directed by the UN General Assembly.Former attorneys-general of the federation and justice ministers that have served on the ILC include Dr. Taslim Elias, Chiefs Richard Akinjide, Bola Ajibola and Bayo Ojo.Ogwu described the election of the justice minister as very significant, especially as Nigeria was not originally endorsed for the election by the African group at the UN.She said, "Considering the fact that we came in late for the race, this victory is illustrative of the goodwill we have among the comity of nations." Nigerias Election Desk Officer at the UN, Mr. Richard Adejola, said Adoke could not be endorsed by the African group at the UN because the endorsement took place ahead of his nomination.
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