Nigeria Assumes AU Peace and Security Council Chairmanship for May 2026

ZAINAB JUNAID…To Lead Talks on Maritime Security, Counter-Terrorism, Climate Change and Other Thematic Issues.

Nigeria has assumed the chairmanship of the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) for May 2026, with a key focus on maritime security cooperation, counter-terrorism, climate change and other thematic issues.

The ministry of foreign affairs announced this in a statement signed by Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, on Friday, 1 May 2026.

According to the statement, Nigeria last chaired the Council in December 2022 and is the only African Union member state that has served continuously on the Peace and Security Council since its inception in 2004, a position that gives it institutional memory in the discharge of its responsibilities.

Throughout May, Nigeria will preside over discussions on a range of thematic and country-specific issues of interest to West Africa, the Sahel region, and the continent at large.

These issues include, the impact of climate change on insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin and the Sahel region; African strategies for combating transnational organised crime; and the draft five-year African Union Continental Counter-Terrorism Strategic Plan of Action.

Other key agenda to be discussed are: operationalisation of the African Standby Force, and the Operationalisation of the Combined Maritime Task Force in addressing Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, among others.

The African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) consist of 15 members, elected by the Executive Council and endorsed by the AU Assembly, serving two or three-year terms based on regional representation.

The current membership of the AU Peace and Security Council currently consists of Nigeria, Benin, Gabon, Algeria, Lesotho, Morocco, Somalia, South Africa, Côte d’lvoire, DRC, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Eswatini.