As consultations continued ahead of the crucial meeting of foreign ministers of India, Japan, Germany and Brazil with African leaders on Sunday on expansion of the Security Council, the African Union signalled that the group was ready to negotiate on its demand for two veto-wielding permanent seats on the UNSC.
Setting at rest speculations that the AU, headed by Nigeria, might become a major roadblock in the efforts of the G-4 to expand the Council, Nigerian Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adeniji said the group did not submit its draft on expansion to the 191-member assembly on a 'take-it-or-leave-it' basis, asserting that such a course would be a 'prescription for killing the proposal.'
"Security Council reform is a universal matter rather than a regional one. After all, the first informal proposal by the G-4 had asked for the right of veto, but that demand has been dropped, perhaps as a result of consultations," he pointed out, stressing the importance of negotiations.
Addressing reporters on Thursday, he defined the AU getting two permanent seats as one of the 'core elements.' That is already provided for in the G-4 resolution. He rejected the suggestion that the AU was not flexible, indicating that Africans were ready to discuss the issue of veto which is a main point of contention between the G-4 and AU positions.