Buhari calls for total elimination of nuclear weapons

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday called for the total elimination of nuclear weapons across the world.

He warned that trafficking in nuclear materials remained a threat to international peace and security.

The president, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, made the call in a video-message to the United Nations High-level meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

Buhari restated Nigeria’s commitment to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

He, however, expressed concern about the ‘‘slow pace’’ of states possessing nuclear weapons in disarming and decommissioning their existing nuclear facilities.

The president said: “We are concerned about the slow pace of progress by nuclear-weapon states to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals, in accordance with their legal obligations and undertakings under Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

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He reiterated the need for the UN to continue engaging nuclear weapon states to speed up their efforts in disarming and decommissioning their existing nuclear facilities.

“The best approach to avoid damage associated with nuclear materials such as humanitarian crisis, accidents, disasters, and criminality is the total elimination of nuclear weapons,” President Buhari added.

He told other world leaders that the universalization of the NPT was dependent upon strict compliance with its three pillars namely, disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

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