The Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to deploy Nigerian troops to the Republic of Benin amid a coup attempt.
The upper chamber expeditiously approved the president’s request after consideration of the request at the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday.
Earlier, Senate President Godswill Akpabio read Mr Tinubu’s letter seeking the upper chamber’s approval for the deployment.
The president, in the letter, described the crisis in Benin as an “attempted unconstitutional seizure of power in the neighbouring West African country.”
According to the communication, the move follows a formal plea from the government of the Republic of Benin for Nigeria’s immediate air support to quell the emerging crisis.
“The government of the Republic of Benin is currently faced with an attempted unconstitutional seizure of power and the disruption and destabilisation of democratic institutions,” Mr Tinubu’s letter read in part.
The president explained that the request had become necessary after consultations with the National Defence Council, noting Nigeria’s regional responsibility and long-standing ties with Benin.
After the approval of Mr Tinubu’s request, Mr Akpabio remarked that he (the president) had taken a step in the right direction.
“He is acting constitutionally. And I also want to thank my colleagues for giving the approval and the consent without much discussion.
“This is because we believe that this is a step in the right direction. So I believe the letter of consent will be sent to the president immediately.
“We thank him (Tinubu) for rising to the occasion because an injury to one is an injury to all. And moreover, the impact this would have had on Nigeria in terms of the security of our borders would have been terrible. So we congratulate him for rising to the occasion, and we wholly consent to his actions,” the Senate president said.
(NAN)