FG Backs Osotimehin For UN Job
Nigeria is in full support of Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin’s nomination for a top position in the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Foreign Affairs Minister Odein Ajumogobia has said.
Ajumogobia told reporters at the UN on Tuesday that Osotimehin, a former Minister of Health and the former Chief Executive of National Agency for the Control of AIDS  (NACA), was eminently qualified for the job.
He said two Nigerians were short-listed for the position of the Executive Director, UNFPA. The other is Mr. Bunmi Makinwa, current Director, UNFPA, Africa Regional Office, who was officially nominated by the Federal Government.
“Prof. Osotimehin also got his name on the short-list; how that happened is not quite clear.
“I am assuming that he was nominated by some of the donors, whom he has worked with; remember he was the boss of NACA and had a lot of dealings with international donors and so on.
“They had a very strong support for his candidacy and at some point he became the remaining Nigerian candidate, out of the two.
“At that point, we put our support behind him and as a Nigerian we believe that if there is an opportunity for a Nigerian who is qualified to head a major UN agency, then that can only be good for the country. So we are putting our support behind him,’’ he said.
The minister, however, expressed regrets that Osotimehin’s nomination had been greeted with petitions from Nigeria.
He said this was related to the country’s suspension in 2006 from the Global Fund grants on HIV and AIDS during his tenure as NACA chief.
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