Olufemi Elias has been elected as a member of the International Law Commission (ILC).

Elias was elected on Tuesday to fill a casual vacancy in the commission following the resignation of Kenya’s Phoebe Okowa. The election was conducted during the 77th session of the commission in Geneva, Switzerland.

The International Law Commission, established by the UN General Assembly in 1947, is responsible for the progressive development and codification of international law.

The body drafts and develops legal frameworks on issues ranging from state responsibility and immunity to piracy, international agreements, and dispute settlement.

Elias defeated other nominees from Botswana and Ghana to secure the seat.

He previously served as registrar of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), with the rank of UN assistant secretary-general. He has also worked as legal adviser and director at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, executive secretary of the World Bank administrative tribunal, and legal adviser at the United Nations Compensation Commission.

Currently, he serves as a judge ad hoc at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court. Elias is also the president of the administrative tribunal of the OPEC Fund for International Development and chairman of the Islamic Development Bank administrative tribunal, as well as a former president and member of the OPEC appeals committee.

In December 2024, the federal government formally presented him to the UN diplomatic corps in New York as Nigeria’s candidate for the ICJ for the 2027–2036 term.

He, however, lost the election, which was held in November 2025.