Nigeria Wins New Security Council Seat

Nigeria will return to the United Nations Security Council in January 2014 for a two year term as a non-permanent member.  This follows a General Assembly election today.
Other elected Member States were Chad, Chile, Lithuania and Saudi Arabia which, along with Nigeria, obtained the required two-thirds majority of Member States present and voting in the 193-member Assembly.  
They will join five non-permanent members which are already on the council: Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, the Republic of Korea and Rwanda, the terms of which will expire at the end of 2014.
The Security Council, which is made up of 15 members, has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.  The five permanent Council members, each of which holds veto power, are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. 
Nigeria’s election, which was really a formality given that she was endorsed by the African Union and by the Economic Community of West African States, came as a surprise to some observers in the country, as she had served in the council as recently as 2010-2011.
The new term, which begins on January 1, 2014, will end on December 31, 2015.