Nigeria’s permanent representative to the UN, Jimoh Ibrahim, presided over fresh UN accountability deliberations on Tuesday as internal watchdogs disclosed that 849 oversight recommendations remained unresolved.

The findings came as Nigeria placed accountability, transparency, efficiency and institutional reform among the priorities of its Fifth Committee chairmanship.

The Nigerian envoy said the Committee must rebuild trust between Member States and the UN system while ensuring responsible stewardship of resources.

Tuesday’s discussions moved the Nigerian-chaired committee from broad opening-day declarations on reform to scrutiny of the mechanisms responsible for ensuring that UN resources and officials are held accountable.

Mr Ibrahim chaired the second meeting of the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee for the 81st session. The committee considered reports from the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the Independent Audit Advisory Committee and the UN Ethics Office. OIOS told member states it issued 308 oversight reports on non-peace operations between July 2025 and June 2026.

Those reports produced 543 recommendations aimed at strengthening risk management, governance and operations across the United Nations.

OIOS said management accepted all but three recommendations and was implementing them.
However, 849 recommendations remained open as at June 30, with about 22 per cent outstanding for more than 24 months.

Entities with significant longstanding recommendations included the Office of Information and Communications Technology, the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee similarly urged management to accelerate implementation of outstanding recommendations. The advisory body also raised concerns over increasing complaints and investigation caseloads, urging deeper analysis of the root causes of complaints and stronger systems for managing institutional risk.

The Group of 77 and China, speaking during the meeting, said acceptance of oversight recommendations must translate into timely implementation. The group said internal audit resources had fallen 14 per cent below planned levels, while some approved investigation positions remained vacant or had been abolished.

It warned that inadequate resources could weaken independent oversight precisely as the organisation undergoes major restructuring under the UN80 reform initiative. The G77 and China also demanded zero tolerance for fraud, corruption and misconduct, calling for stronger protection for personnel reporting wrongdoing or cooperating with authorised investigations.

The group also expressed concern about geographical imbalance in OIOS staffing, calling for concrete efforts to recruit qualified personnel from countries that remained unrepresented or underrepresented.

The UN Ethics Office separately reported 2,025 requests for services in 2025, the second-highest volume on record. It said nearly 5,500 personnel were required to participate in the financial disclosure programme, which recorded a 99.9 per cent compliance rate.

(NAN)