Tinubu explained that the Government of Benin had urgently appealed for exceptional air support from Nigeria’s Armed Forces.
President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the deployment of Nigerian troops to the Republic of Benin following an attempted coup there.
The request was contained in a letter read during plenary on Tuesday.
In the letter, President Tinubu explained that the Government of Benin had urgently appealed for exceptional air support from Nigeria’s Armed Forces after soldiers attempted to overthrow President Patrice Talon.
Citing Section 30 (5), Part II of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the President informed lawmakers that he had consulted the National Defence Council before forwarding the request.
He noted that Senate approval was now required to authorize a regional peacekeeping mission.
President Tinubu warned that Benin was facing “an attempted unconstitutional seizure of power and the destruction and destabilization of democratic institutions’,
The former Lagos State governor urged the Senate to act swiftly. He added that Nigeria has a historical responsibility to support Benin under the existing Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) security frameworks.
According to the President, the crisis demands “urgent external intervention” to help restore stability and prevent further breakdown of order.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio subsequently referred the request to the Committee of the Whole for immediate consideration.
