Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu will address the high-level General Debate of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday, September 24.

A revised provisional speakers’ list from the UN shows Tinubu slated to speak on the second day of the debate during the afternoon session, around 8:30 p.m. local time (about 2:30 p.m. in Nigeria). He is listed as the 17th speaker of the day.

Tinubu will join a gathering of 195 leaders, including 98 heads of state, five vice presidents, 44 heads of government, four deputy prime ministers, 37 ministers, one crown prince and four heads of delegation.

As is tradition, Brazil’s president will open the debate, followed by the president of the United States as the host nation’s leader. UN sources indicated the schedule is still being updated and Tinubu’s speaking slot could change if he does not attend in person.

By tradition, heads of state take the floor on the first and second days of the debate, while vice presidents begin speaking from the third day. Vice President Kashim Shettima represented Tinubu in 2024 and spoke on the first day, maintaining Nigeria’s slot—an unusual accommodation that diplomats attributed to Nigeria’s standing and deft UN diplomacy.

Movses Abelian, UN Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management, noted that the latest list reflects changes in representation levels and ongoing exchanges among member states, and will continue to be updated until the debate begins.

The theme of this year’s General Debate is “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights.”

UNGA 80 opened on Tuesday, September 9, with the inauguration of Annalena Baerbock of Germany as President of the General Assembly. Taking her oath on the original 1945 Charter, Baerbock urged member states to unite in tackling global crises and received the Assembly’s gavel from her predecessor, Philémon Yang of Cameroon.