President Bola Tinubu on Friday informed Senate of imminent military action against coup plotters in Niger Republic by the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS) being led by Nigeria .
Tinubu in a letter forwarded to the Senate and read in plenary on Friday by its President , Godswill Akpabio , said if the military junta in Niger Republic , remain adamant , ” Military buildup and deployment of personnel for military intervention to enforce compliance , are being considered”
The letter titled: ” Political situation in Niger”, reads ” Following the unfortunate political situation in Niger Republic culminating in the overthrow of its President, ECOWAS under my leadership condemned the coup in its entirety and resolved to seek the return of the democratically elected govt.
” In a bid to restore peace, ECOWAS convened a meeting and came out with a communique which are ÷ Closure and monitoring of all land borders with Niger Republic and reactivating of the border drilling excercise.
Cutting off Electricity supply to Niger Republic . Mobilizing international support for the implementation of the provisions of the ECOWAS communique and , Preventing the operation of commercial and special flights into and from Niger Republic
ECOWAS as stated in the letter, also agreed on Blockade of goods in transit to Niger especially from Lagos and eastern seaports and also, embarking on sensitization of Nigerians and Nigerians on the imperative of these actions particularly via social media .
But shortly after the letter was read, a former deputy Senate majority leader, Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central ), raised a constitutional point of order to draw the attention of the Senate to relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution on how the armed forces could be deployed on a combat duty outside Nigeria.
He said his point of order was aimed at guiding the Senate on the matter.
Ningi read section 5(5) of the Constitution which states that
“Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, the President, in consultation with the National Defence Council, may deploy members of the armed forces of the Federation on a limited combat duty outside Nigeria if he is satisfied that the national security is under imminent threat or danger provided that the President shall, within seven days of actual combat engagement, seek the consent of the Senate and the Senate shall thereafter give or refuse the said consent within 14 days”
In his response , the President of the Senate , Akpabio said Ningi’s point of order was noted .
