Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations(UN), has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu and members of his family face no risk of arrest or restrictions on their movement in the United States while attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Ibrahim, who is also Chairman of the UN Committee on Budget and Administration, made the clarification in a statement issued by Nigeria’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
According to him, the Nigerian Mission had received no notification from the US government indicating any restriction on Tinubu’s movement during the UNGA.
Ibrahim
Citing Section 11 of the 1947 UN-U.S. Agreement, the envoy said representatives of UN member states and their families are protected from impediments to transit to and from the UN headquarters district.
He explained that the provision requires US federal, state and local authorities to refrain from restricting the movement of member-state representatives, their families, UN officials and other persons invited to the UN headquarters district on official business.
Ibrahim also noted that attendance at the UNGA was a matter of national priority, although countries could delegate representation to vice presidents or foreign ministers when necessary.
The envoy recalled that a former Nigerian president, whom he did not identify as Tinubu, had once been restricted to a 10-kilometre radius around the UN headquarters over a drug-related allegation.
He stressed that the allegation was never proved.
“An allegation is not a crime,” Ibrahim said, adding that criminal accusations must be established through due process and proved beyond reasonable doubt before conviction.
Ibrahim, who dismissed social media efforts to link Tinubu to possible arrest in the US, saying such attempts would ultimately prove futile, added that US law-enforcement authorities could invite individuals to provide information during investigations and collect identifying details such as personal and family history, educational records and fingerprints.
The Ambassador explained further that such information could help investigators establish links between individuals, groups and networks, while remaining protected and not necessarily made public.
Ibrahim, urged Nigerians to continue to uphold the national flag and support what he described as the economic transformation agenda of the Tinubu administration.
