BREAKING: Tinubu Seeks Senate Approval To Deploy Troops To Benin Amid Foiled Coup

Abuja,  Nigeria– President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally written the Nigerian Senate, seeking approval to deploy troops to the Republic of Benin for combat operations following last weekend’s attempted coup in the West African nation.

The letter was read on Tuesday during plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. Tinubu’s request, citing Section 5(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), frames the deployment as a peacekeeping measure in support of a sister nation and in response to a direct request from Benin’s government.

The move comes after soldiers of the self-styled “Military Committee for Refoundation,” led by Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri, briefly seized the state television station in Cotonou on Sunday, declaring the overthrow of President Patrice Talon.

The coup was swiftly thwarted after Nigerian fighter jets and troops, already positioned in the neighbouring country, intervened to restore order.

Meanwhile, previously a human rights lawyer, Marshal Abubakar, has declared President Bola Tinubu’s authorisation of a military intervention in the Republic of Benin as an impeachable violation of the Nigerian Constitution.

Abubakar insisted that no Nigerian president has the power to deploy troops outside the country without the prior approval of the National Assembly.

Abubakar’s position follows the December 7, 2025 coup in Benin Republic, where soldiers of the Beninese Armed Forces led by Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri announced the overthrow of President Patrice Talon on national television after attacking his residence in Cotonou.

In the wake of the coup, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff openly admitted that the country’s air and land assets were deployed across Benin Republic’s airspace without the requisite approval of the National Assembly, but solely on the orders of President Tinubu, who chairs ECOWAS.

Tinubu has defended the move, claiming the intervention was consistent with ECOWAS’ Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance aimed at halting unconstitutional takeovers in the region.

But Abubakar sharply disagrees.

According to him, Section 5(4)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is unequivocal:“ (b) except with the prior approval of the Senate, no member of the armed forces of the Federation shall be deployed on combat duty outside Nigeria.

He adds that although Section 5(5) empowers the President — after consulting the National Defence Council —.to deploy troops for limited combat, such deployment must relate strictly to the national security of Nigeria, not that of another sovereign state.

Abubakar argued that Benin is not Nigeria and unless Nigeria itself is under imminent threat, the President cannot unilaterally dispatch troops across borders.

“Constitution permit the President, to in consultation with the National Defence Council, deploy members of the armed forces on limited combat, it must be the national security of Nigeria (not Benin) that is under imminent threat or danger.”

The lawyer warned that ECOWAS cannot override Nigeria’s constitution, noting that international protocols do not supersede domestic legal provisions governing the use of armed forces.

Abubakar also expressed deep concern over the wave of military coups sweeping across West Africa—from Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger to now Benin—stating that widespread public jubilation after coups signals a deeper rot in governance across the continent.

He blamed the collapse of governance on corruption, weak institutions, insecurity, manipulated elections, and leadership failures that have left citizens disillusioned and desperate.