Nigeria appears to be a crucial vote as Palestinians try to secure support from at least nine of the 15 council members. The US has said it will veto the request. However, the US could avoid that if Palestinians fail to get those nine votes.
Last Thursday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki told reporters that both Nigeria and Gabon assured him of their support. Damian Agwu, a spokesman for Nigeria's Foreign Ministry, said Sunday that Africa's most populous nation had yet to offer their support to anyone on the matter.
"We have noted the positions of both parties. Both have been lobbying Nigeria both inside the country and outside," Agwu said. "We are keeping how we are voting close to our chest."
The Palestinian group has asked the UN to grant full membership to a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Nigeria, a non-permanent member of the Security Council serving a yearlong term on the body, is viewed as a swing vote.
The diplomatic push on Nigeria has already begun, with Palestinian officials saying they planned to send a delegation to the country to argue their case. But oil-rich Nigeria already falls under the strong influence of the US, which is one of the country's top buyers of crude oil pumped from its southern delta. The United Kingdom also carries heavy political power in its former colony as well.
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