Nigeria

Nigeria is not currently a state party to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW); while Nigeria signed the CCW in 1982, it has not yet acceded to the Convention. However, Nigeria has participated in a number of CCW meetings on autonomous weapons systems. Nigeria supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.

In December 2025, Nigeria voted in favour of UN General Assembly Resolution 80/57 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Mindful of the challenges and concerns autonomous weapons systems raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives, Resolution 80/57 stresses the urgent need for the CCW to address the challenges and concerns posed by autonomous weapons systems, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties of the CCW to ‘work towards completing the set of elements for an instrument being developed within the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts, with a view to future negotiation.’

At the CCW Meeting of High Contracting Parties in November 2025, Nigeria joined a working paper submitted on behalf of 44 states, calling for the CCW GGE on LAWS to begin negotiations of an instrument on the basis of its ‘rolling text,’ and stating that they were ready to do this.

At the 79th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2024, Nigeria voted in favour of Draft Resolution L.77 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Draft Resolution L.77 raises concerns about the ‘negative consequences and impact of autonomous weapon systems on global security and regional and international stability’ and stresses ‘the importance of the role of humans in the use of force to ensure responsibility and accountability and for States to comply with international law.’ It also notes ‘the repeated calls by the Secretary-General to urgently conclude negotiations of a legally binding instrument with prohibitions and regulations for autonomous weapons systems, in line with a two-tier approach.’ The Resolution will convene open informal consultations in 2025 over two days in New York, ‘to consider the report of the Secretary-General in full complementarity with and in a manner that supports the fulfilment of the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts in order to further the international community’s understanding of the issues involved by discussing the full range of views received, including proposals and relevant aspects raised in the report that may thus far not have been discussed in detail in the Group of Governmental Experts.’

Nigeria is a member of ECOWAS. On 17-18 April 2024, representatives of ECOWAS Member States gathered for a Regional Conference on the Peace and Security Aspect of Autonomous Weapons Systems in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This conference concluded in the adoption of the Freetown Communiqué, which recognises that existing governance mechanisms including international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international criminal law should be strengthened ‘by establishing new legally binding rules, with prohibitions and regulations that effectively address the threats and challenges posed by autonomous weapons systems.’ ^[1]Communiqué of the Regional Conference on The Peace And Security Aspects of Autonomous Weapons Systems: An ECOWAS Perspective, 18 April 2024, … Continue reading

Also in April 2024, Nigeria endorsed the Chair’s Summary of the 2024 Vienna conference ‘Humanity at the Crossroads: Autonomous Weapons Systems and the Challenge of Regulation’ . The Chair’s Summary affirms the ‘strong commitment’ of the endorsing states to ‘work with urgency and with all interested stakeholders for an international legal instrument to regulate autonomous weapons systems.’

In December 2023, Nigeria voted in support of UN General Assembly Resolution 78/241 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Resolution 78/241 stressed the ‘urgent need for the international community to address the challenges and concerns raised by autonomous weapons systems’, and mandated the UN Secretary-General to prepare a report, reflecting the views of member and observer states on autonomous weapons systems and ways to address the related challenges and concerns they raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives and on the role of humans in the use of force.

At the November 2023 CCW Meeting of High Contracting Parties, the African Group, of which Nigeria is a member, reiterated that ‘lethal autonomous weapons systems ‘raise ethical, legal, moral and technical questions, as well as international peace and security-related questions which should be thoroughly deliberated and examined in the context of conformity to international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.’ The African Group further stated that autonomous weapons ‘must remain under the direct, meaningful control and supervision of humans at all times. These key principles must, therefore form the essential elements of any normative and operational framework to address ethical considerations as well as moral responsibility and accountability of these weapons systems.’ The African Group also noted its support for a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons.^[2]Statement delivered by Nigeria on behalf of the African Group, Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Meeting of High Contracting Parties, November 2023, … Continue reading

In a joint statement with ten other states, delivered at the 2021 CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS), Nigeria called for ‘an all-inclusive approach to adopt a legally binding instrument to ensure the prohibition of autonomous weapons systems with a view to upholding human dignity and avoiding further international instability.’ ^[3]Statement by Sierra Leone on behalf ofArgentina, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Nigeria, Panama, the Philippines, Peru, Sierra Leone, Palestine and Uruguay, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on … Continue reading