Nigeria silent on Palestinian UN recognition

Nigeria is refusing to disclose how it will vote when the United Nations Security Council decides on the Palestinians' request for UN membership, as increasing diplomatic pressure mounts on the country.

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.

Nigerian Diplomats amongst debtors owing New York City nearly $17 million in parking fines

Egypt and Nigeria top the list of countries owing New York City in parking tickets issued to diplomats. The city is owed nearly $17 million in parking tickets, a huge amount that may have grown this week as world leaders gathered for the UN General Assembly.
The city's Department of Finance said unpaid tickets totaled $16.7 million through the end of July. Egypt topped the list with $1.9 million in tickets, followed by Nigeria with about $1 million and Indonesia with about $725,000.
US congressmen Michael Grimm, Peter King and Edolphus Towns have introduced legislation that would impose sanctions on countries with diplomats who fail to pay parking fines in New York City.
Under current law, 110 percent of total unpaid parking fines owed to New York City and Washington will be withheld from the foreign aid and obligations to the offending countries.
New York City is home to 289 foreign missions and consulates. The diplomats' tickets were issued for safety violations including blocking fire hydrants.
"There's no such thing as 'diplomatic immunity' from paying parking tickets," Michael Grimm (US Congressman)

said when the legislation was introduced in May.
"If you get a ticket in NYC, you have to pay it. No exceptions. New York City's budget is tight enough as it is, and foreign diplomats do not deserve a free pass at the expense of New York City taxpayers."