Coup in Niger: Senate advises Tinubu, ECOWAS on diplomatic engagement with junta
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was encouraged by the Nigerian Senate on Saturday to follow the diplomatic course in the ongoing suspension of democracy in the neighboring Niger Republic.
After a four-hour conference held behind closed doors to discuss the situation affecting the West African nation of Niger, a settlement was achieved.
Following an executive letter from President Tinubu requesting the implementation of an ECOWAS decision on the political situation in the Niger Republic, the upper legislative chamber passed the resolution.
President Tinubu never asked for permission for Nigeria to go to war with the Niger Republic, according to Senate President Godswill Obot Akpabio, who also claimed that the letter had been misrepresented in the media.
He claimed that in his capacity as ECOWAS Chairman, President Tinubu asked for permission to implement ECOWAS resolutions.
“By virtue of the correspondence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the Commander-in-Chief, he has not o for the approval of the parliament or of Senate to go to war as has wrongly been suggested in some quarters,” he said. “Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief had expressed and I quote, in which to respectfully solicit support in the successful implementation of the ECOWAS resolutions in the said communications.”
“On behalf of the whole Senate, the leadership of the Senate is mandated to continue speaking with the President and Commander-in-Chief to determine how to best address the problem.
The Senate urges the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to continue urging other ECOWAS leaders to increase their diplomatic and political alternatives as well as other strategies in order to break the impasse.
