Nigeria

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

SIGNED

RATIFIED

IN FORCE

SIGNED

20 September 2017

RATIFIED

6 August 2020

IN FORCE

22 January 2021

Status

Nigeria has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was among the original 50 states parties to the treaty when it entered into force on 22 January 2021.

Signature and ratification

Geoffrey Onyeama, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Nigeria, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017.

In an address to the United Nations earlier that week, Nigeria’s then-president, Muhammadu Buhari, said: “The crisis in the Korean peninsula underscores the urgency for all member states, guided by the spirit of enthroning a safer and more peaceful world, to ratify without delay the treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons.”

The federal executive council, chaired by Buhari, approved ratification of the TPNW on 27 November 2019, and Nigeria deposited its instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 6 August 2020, the 75th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

Later that year, Buhari urged all states that have not yet done so “to quickly ratify the treaty for the actualisation of its important objective”.

Nigeria was the equal 41st state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.

In 2024, Nigeria said that its decision to ratify the TPNW was guided by its “principled position on the denuclearisation of the world”.

Geoffrey Onyeama, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Nigeria, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: ICAN

Nigeria’s federal executive council, chaired by President Buhari, approves ratification of the TPNW in 2019. Photo: NNN

National position

In 2021, Nigeria noted the “historic entry into force” of the TPNW and said that it “remains proud to have participated in the process leading to its adoption, as well as being one of the first states to sign and ratify the treaty”.

In 2022, Nigeria said that the TPNW, rather than undermining the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968, “offers a strong and complementary process in furtherance of the disarmament pathways of the NPT”.

In 2024, it described the TPNW as “a major instrument negotiated to ensure a nuclear-weapon-free world”.

Implementation

In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Nigeria submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 20 February 2021 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on its territory.

As required by Article 3, Nigeria has a comprehensive safeguards agreement in force with the International Atomic Energy Agency to guard against the misuse of nuclear facilities and materials. It also has an additional protocol in force.

Per Article 12, Nigeria has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.

In 2022, Nigeria urged “all members of the international community, especially nuclear-weapon states and those under the so-called ‘nuclear umbrella’, to seize the opportunity to sign and ratify the treaty at an early date and to pursue the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world”.

In 2024, the vice-president of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, called on all states yet to ratify or accede to the TPNW “to do so without further delay”.

Campaigners and government officials from West African states meet in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2019 to discuss universalisation of the TPNW. Photo: Benjamin Alutoho

Meetings of states parties

Nigeria participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2022. “The prohibition of nuclear-weapon programmes is a necessary step towards achieving a world free of nuclear weapons,” it said. It expressed support for the declaration and action plan adopted at the meeting.

Nigeria also participated in the second meeting of states parties in 2023 and the third meeting in 2025.

TPNW negotiations

Nigeria participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.

In its opening statement to the negotiating conference, Nigeria described the initiation of the treaty-making process as “an epic accomplishment” after almost half a century “of minimal progress” in multilateral efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament.

In its closing statement, Nigeria said: “States both big and small must be united in reminding one another of the overarching need to protect the ecosystem and demonstrate due diligence and consideration for others … Nigeria, and indeed the entire continent of Africa, shall remain a nuclear-free zone.”

Nigeria, Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, and South Africa comprised a “core group” of states that played a leading role in bringing the negotiations about and ensuring their ultimate success.

In 2016, Nigeria co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

Nigerian delegates confer at the UN headquarters in New York in 2017 during the TPNW negotiations. Photo: ICAN

Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, the Nigerian ambassador to the United Nations, briefs the media on 7 July 2017 following the TPNW’s adoption. Photo: ICAN

Before the negotiations

Nigeria was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the negotiations.

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor

Nigeria

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

Status

Signature and ratification

National position

Implementation

Meetings of states parties

TPNW negotiations

Before the negotiations

Further information

Local Partner Organizations

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