• Nigeria has assumed the chairmanship of the African Union Peace and Security Council for May 2026
• The country will lead discussions on terrorism, piracy, climate-linked insecurity and organised crime across Africa
• Nigeria remains the only AU member state with uninterrupted membership in the Council since 2004

Nigeria has assumed the chairmanship of the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) for May 2026, taking on a central leadership role as African leaders prepare to address some of the continent’s most urgent security concerns, including terrorism, climate-linked conflicts, piracy and organised crime.

The development was announced on Friday, May 1, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement signed by the ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa.

According to the ministry, Nigeria last presided over the Council in December 2022 and remains the only African Union member state to have maintained uninterrupted membership in the Peace and Security Council since its establishment in 2004.

The ministry noted that Nigeria’s long-standing presence in the Council positions it to provide strong institutional memory and continuity as it leads deliberations throughout the month.

It stated that Nigeria will steer discussions on a range of pressing thematic and country-specific issues affecting West Africa, the Sahel and the wider African continent.

Among the issues expected to dominate the May 2026 agenda are “the impact of climate change on the crisis situation in the Lake Chad Basin and Sahel regions; African strategies for combating transnational organised crime in Africa; the draft 5-year AU Continental Counter Terrorism Strategic Plan of Action; 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 ministry said these discussions are expected to shape coordinated African responses to emerging and long-standing threats across the continent.

It further explained that the African Union Peace and Security Council is made up of 15 member states elected by the Executive Council and endorsed by the AU Assembly, with members serving either two- or three-year terms based on regional representation.

The ministry added that the current members of the Council are Nigeria, Benin, Gabon, Algeria, Lesotho, Morocco, Somalia, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Eswatini.

African leaders call for new era of Malaria financing at AU summit

Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that African Heads of State and Government issued a unified appeal for a renewed approach to malaria financing, stressing urgent action at the 39th African Union Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The leaders highlighted that progress in malaria control across the continent has stalled due to declining international funding, intensifying threats, and stagnating domestic investments.

The call came amid alarming statistics in the African Union Malaria Progress Report 2025, presented by President Advocate Duma Boko of Botswana and Chair of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), which warned that decades of progress are at risk without immediate intervention.