Professor Tijjani Mohammad Bande is the new President of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

The outgoing president, H.E María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés disclosed this on Tuesday in a joint media briefing with the Foreign Affairs minister, Geoffrey Onyeama at the State House, Abuja.

Until his appointment, Prof. Bande served as the permanent representative of Nigeria to the UN.

The professor becomes the second Nigerian to become president of the UNGA. Mr Joseph Nanven Garba held the same position between 1989 and 1990.