Nigeria has paid only 36 per cent of its assessed contributions to the United Nations over the last five years, according to official records reviewed by The PUNCH.
Between 2020 and 2024, Nigeria was expected to contribute a total of $30.53m to the UN’s regular budget. However, data from the United Nations shows that the country remitted just $10.96m during the period, leaving an outstanding balance of over $19.57m.
The development comes amid warnings by UN Secretary-General António Guterres that the organisation is facing a severe liquidity crisis that threatens its ability to carry out peacekeeping, humanitarian, and diplomatic operations across the world.
It was recently reported that the UN is undergoing some dire financial strain amid growing global challenges. Guterres, while briefing member states in New York about the state of the multilateral body, pushed for wide-ranging structural reforms to cut costs and enhance the world body’s effectiveness.
According to information provided by the UN Controller to the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), only $1.8bn had been received against the $3.5bn regular budget assessments for 2025.
This amounted to a shortfall of around 50 per cent.
As of 30 April, unpaid assessments stood at $2.4bn, with the United States owing about $1.5bn, China ($597m), Russia ($72m), Saudi Arabia ($42m), Mexico ($38m), and Venezuela ($38m).
An additional $137m was yet to be paid by other member states. For the peacekeeping budget, which runs on a July-June cycle, including prior-period arrears, the unpaid amount totals $2.7bn.
For the International Tribunals, the total contribution outstanding was $79m as of April 30. “These are times of peril,” Guterres lamented, adding, “but they are also times of profound opportunity and obligation. The mission of the United Nations is more urgent than ever.”
Guterres outlined wide-ranging efforts to revamp how the UN system operates, which included cutting costs, streamlining operations, and modernising its approach to peace and security, development and human rights.
He said the conclusions would be reflected in revised estimates for the 2026 budget in September 2025, with additional changes that require more detailed analysis presented in 2027.
Guterres said the changes were expected to yield “meaningful reductions” in the overall budget, in which the departments for political and peacekeeping affairs could see a 20 per cent reduction in staff by eliminating duplication.
He said this level of reduction could serve as a benchmark across the UN system while also considering unique factors for each department.
Gutterres said, “There might be immediate, one-off costs involved in relocating staff and providing potential termination packages. But by moving posts from high-cost locations, we can reduce our commercial footprint in those cities and reduce our post and non-post costs.”
He said departments at the UN’s headquarters in New York and Geneva had been asked to review whether some teams could be relocated to lower-cost duty stations, reduced or abolished.
Guterres touched on the UN’s dire cash flow situation, stating that the initiative was not an answer to the months-long liquidity crisis, but being more cost-effective should help limit its impact.
“The liquidity crisis is caused by one simple fact – the arrears,” he said, adding that structural reform was not the answer to a fundamental failure by some member states to pay what they owed on time to meet running costs.
The secretary-general told member states he would be consulting with them closely and regularly on the cash crisis and needed reforms, seeking guidance and presenting concrete proposals for countries to act on.
He said UN staff members and their representatives were being consulted and listened to, adding, “Our concern is to be humane and professional in dealing with any aspect of the required restructuring.”
According to the data obtained from the UN website, Nigeria’s payment records indicate that the country only fully settled its dues in 2022 and 2024. A payment of $5.23m was made on March 10, 2022, while a sum of $5.73m was paid on September 11, 2024.
For 2020, 2021, and 2023, there were no recorded payments, and Nigeria was absent from the UN’s annual Honour Roll, which lists countries that paid their regular budget assessments in full by year-end.
In 2020, 144 member states paid in full, but Nigeria was not listed. The trend continued in 2021 and 2023, when 153 and 142 countries, respectively, were recognised for full payment. Nigeria only reappeared on the Honour Roll in 2022 and 2024.
As of May 22, 2025, Nigeria had not made any payment towards its 2025 regular budget assessment, which currently stands at $5.1m. A total of 108 countries had paid in full by that date, with Nigeria again absent.
The UN’s records also show a downward revision in Nigeria’s scale of assessment. From 0.25 per cent in 2020 and 2021, the country’s contribution was reduced to 0.18 per cent between 2022 and 2024 and further to 0.15 per cent in 2025.
The reduction reflects changes in Nigeria’s economic performance and relative capacity to contribute. With mounting domestic fiscal pressures, including high debt servicing costs and currency depreciation, Nigeria’s delay in honouring its international commitments raises questions about its readiness to maintain its global influence.
Meanwhile, the UN has continued to appeal to all member states for timely payments to keep its operations running.
