President Buhari

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari will leave Abuja for Washington DC tomorrow, Wednesday, March 30, 2016  for the 4th Nuclear Security Summit which opens  on Thursday. 

President Barack Obama will be the host and 60 other world leaders and heads of international organisations are attending.

In a statement by the Presidency today, President Buhari will return to Abuja on Sunday.

At plenary sessions of the summit which is dedicated to reinforcing international commitment to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, President Buhari will insist that while Nigeria will continue to sustain that commitment,  world powers must respect the right of other countries to the peaceful use of nuclear energy for development purposes.

The President will reaffirm Nigeria’s stance that international efforts to ensure greater security of nuclear materials should maintain a balance between nuclear non-proliferation obligations and the indisputable right of Nigeria and other countries to harness nuclear energy and technology for socio-economic development.

 President Buhari had at a meeting last month,  told the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr. Yukiya Amano that the Federal Government will welcome greater support from the agency for Nigeria’s aspiration to begin the generation of electricity with nuclear energy.

While in Washington DC for the Nuclear Security Summit, the President and his delegation  will also   hold bilateral meetings with other participating Heads of Government and high-ranking United States Government officials.

In his entourage are  Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd.) and the Director-General of Nigeria’s Nuclear Regulatory Agency, Prof Lawrence Anikwe Dim,