President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria remains committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), saying the nation would continue to promote it.

Mr Buhari made this position known while addressing delegates at a High-Level Plenary to Commemorate and Promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in New York.

The president, who was represented by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, said that expending further resources on nuclear weapons stockpiling and maintenance was senseless.

This is contained in a statement by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) made available to journalists  on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr Buhari also expressed Nigeria’s dissatisfaction over the failure of the Tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that was held in New York, from August 1 to August 26.

He said the conference was to produce a consensual final document which assessed the implementation of the treaty, 12 years since the adoption of an outcome document in 2010.

According to him, current global realities, including threats of global and transboundary terrorism, climate change, hunger and zoonotic diseases, require collective global efforts and channelling of resources towards addressing them.

“Therefore, expending further resources on nuclear weapons stockpiling and maintenance makes no sense at all.

“The total elimination of nuclear weapons can be considered a catalyst to the assurance of global peace and security and development.

“Africa had long acknowledged the existential threat nuclear weapons pose to human existence.

“It was to this end that African countries collectively adopted the Pelindaba Treaty, which prohibited the acquisition of nuclear weapons for military purposes and declared Africa a nuclear-weapons-free zone,” he said.

Mr Buhari said that the NPT remained an essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and the key instrument in the efforts to halt the vertical and horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons.

He, therefore, called for the full implementation of all commitments and the unequivocal undertakings assumed by the Nuclear-Weapons States at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference and the 2000 and 2010 Review Conferences of the Parties to the treaty.

According to Mr Buhari, while Nigeria remains resolute in its support for the global nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament regime, the country is mindful of the beneficial uses of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

He reaffirmed the right of all states to use nuclear technologies for their developmental aspirations consistent with the relevant articles of the NPT, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) statute.

He said that Nigeria joined other countries in the core group to co-sponsor the resolution that led to the adoption of the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons in 2017.

Mr Buhari enjoined other states that had not ratified the treaty to do so without any further delay, to enable full implementation of its provisions.

“Nigeria wishes to reiterate its call for the implementation and enforcement of all treaties on the elimination of nuclear weapons and reassures of her continued principled position in support of a world free of nuclear weapons,” he added.

NPT is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology.

It is meant to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. 

(NAN)