The Nigerian Senate has refused to back military intervention in Niger after soldiers there seized power and the regional body ECOWAS threatened force to restore democracy.
President Bola Tinubu notified the Senate on Thursday of the bloc’s plan to use force following the removal of President Mohamed Bazoum by his military guards.
A mediation effort seeking to persuade the putschists to release and reinstate Mr Bazoum has not yielded results, and ECOWAS has given the soldiers until Sunday to restore democracy in the country of face military intervention.
The regime in Niamey has requested help from the Russian mercenary group Wagner.
– No to war
In its resolution on Saturday, the Senate denied approval for the Tinubu administration to use force.
Senators instead condemned the coup, and urged Mr Tinubu, as chairman of ECOWAS, to encourage other regional leaders to explore political and diplomatic solutions.
The decisions were reached at a closed-door session that lasted over two hours.
“The leadership of the Senate is mandated to further engage with the President and Commander in Chief on behalf of the Senate and National Assembly on how best to resolve the issues,” Senate president Godswill Akpabio said after the session.
“This is in view of the hitherto existing cordial relationship between Nigeriens and Nigerians.”
He claimed that Mr Tinubu had not asked the Senate to approve his plan to “go to war.”
“Rather, Mr President and Commander-in-Chief had expressed, and I quote ‘I wish to respectfully solicit the support of the National Assembly in the successful implementation of the ECOWAS resolutions as outlined in the said communications,” Mr Akpabio said.
Premium Times reported that during the Senate’s closed-door session, lawmakers flatly rejected the proposal for military intervention.
“Almost all the senators spoke and totally ruled out the military options because of many factors and also because of the harmonious relationship that Nigeria and Niger have always enjoyed,” the paper quoted a senator at the meeting as saying.
According to the paper, senators hinged their opposition on the fact that the Nigerian military is “highly ill-equipped and not prepared to fight any war.”
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