The Senate Wednesday passed for second reading a bill for an Act to Prohibit Chemical Weapons and establish the National Authority for the Effective Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention in Nigeria and for Other Matters Connected Therewith 2014.
The bill is premised on the Chemical Weapons Convention, an arms control treaty which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and their precursors. The treaty entered into force on April 29th 1997 and Nigeria is a state party.
Therefore, it seeks to prohibit the development, production, transfer and use of chemical weapons in Nigeria and to establish a National Authority for the effective implementation of the chemical weapons convention in Nigeria.
Also, the thrust of the bill which was sponsored by the Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba is to establish a body that will serve as the national focal point for effective liaison with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and other State Parties to the Convention and to fulfill Nigeria’s obligation under the Convention.
