By Abiola Olawale
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally requested the Senate’s approval to deploy troops to the neighbouring Republic of Benin for a peace mission, following a foiled military coup attempt in the West African nation.
The request, communicated to the Senate on Tuesday, cited the need to provide urgent military support to safeguard constitutional order.
The President’s letter was read on the Senate floor by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
Tinubu, in the letter, revealed that the government of the Republic of Benin had appealed for exceptional air and ground support from the Nigerian Armed Forces.
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’,
After reading the letter, Akpabio subsequently referred the request to the Committee of the Whole for immediate consideration.
