The Senate on Friday agreed to hold an extensive debate on the request by chairman of ECOWAS and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu following military takeover in Niger Republic.
SaharaReporters had reported that Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, had written a letter to Nigeria’s National Assembly, notifying the lawmakers about the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) possible military action against military leaders and coup plotters in Niger Republic.
Tinubu, who is the current ECOWAS chairman, also listed other sanctions against the military officers who recently seized power in the Niger after overthrowing the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
Tinubu gave the notification on Friday in an official letter addressed to the Senate and read at plenary by Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, ThisDay reports.
The letter titled “Political situation in Niger” reads, “Following the unfortunate political situation in Niger Republic culminating in the overthrow of its President, ECOWAS under my leadership condemned the coup in its entirety and resolved to seek the return of the democratically elected govt. In a bid to restore peace, ECOWAS convened a meeting and came out with a communique.
“Closure and monitoring of all land borders with Niger Republic and reactivating of the border drilling excercise. Cutting off Electricity supply to Niger Republic; mobilising international support for the implementation of the provisions of the ECOWAS communiqué.
“Preventing the operation of commercial and special flights into and from Niger Republic; blockade of goods in transit to Niger especially from Lagos and eastern seaports; embarking on sensitisation of Nigerians and Nigeriens on the imperative of these actions particularly via social media.
“Military build-up and deployment of personnel for military intervention to enforce compliance of the military junta in Niger should they remain recalcitrant.”
