Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama expressed his countrys commitment to support Indonesias candidacy as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) from 2019 to 2020.

The support was delivered by Onyeama during a bilateral meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi in Abuja, Nigeria, on Monday, as stated in a press release from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs received here on Tuesday.

Onyeama stated that Nigeria would offer support as Indonesias role and contribution are not only active in maintaining stability and world peace but also in promoting cooperation among developing countries, particularly in Africa.

The Indonesian government is currently seeking to gain support from other countries for the candidacy.

The UNSC has two kinds of membership which are fixed and non-permanent. The permanent members consist of five countries, namely the United States, Britain, China, Russia, and France.

The UN Security Council non-permanent members with a two-year term consists of 10 representative countries from five regions.

From the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia will compete with the Maldives for the seats which are currently occupied by Malaysia and Japan.

The election of the UNSCs non-permanent members will take place in June 2018. The Indonesian government is optimistic that it can lead the country to a non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council.

Marsudi recently stated that Indonesias chances of becoming a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council are considerable.

"The support is enough with more than 100 countries and the potential is huge," he noted.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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