ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Human Rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, says President Bola Tinubu does not have the constitutional authority to deploy a single member of the Nigerian Armed Forces as part of the proposed Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Standby Force to invade Niger Republic.
Effiong said parliamentary approval is required for all combat duties and missions by our Armed Forces abroad, and only required when a state of war between Nigeria and another country is declared.
He stated this on his Twitter page on page on Thursday, after the President Tinubu had earlier met with other Heads of State in Abuja on way forward to restoring democracy in Niger Republic.
The human rights lawyer advised Tinubu and other world leaders to employ diplomacy, stressing that Nigeria is not in a position to go to war.
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According to him: “While Section 5 (4)(a) of the 1999 Constitution mandates that the approval of National Assembly must be sought for declaration of a state of war between Nigeria and another country, Section 5(4)(b) of the Constitution specifically provides as follows:
“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 said the fact that Nigeria currently chairs the ECOWAS, and is a signatory to the treaty of ECOWAS does not change the above constitutional stipulation, adding that, “Every treaty entered into by Nigeria is subject to the Nigerian Constitution.”
He wrote: “Since the Nigerian Senate had passed a resolution and ruled out military option in the resolution of the Niger crisis, any attempt by Mr. Tinubu to deploy a single member of our Armed Forces to take part in the invasion of Niger under any guise or name will be not only reckless, but a gross misconduct which can be treated by the National Assembly as an impeachable offence.
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“It is unfortunate that ECOWAS leaders have given in to imperialist demand by France to go to war with Niger. They should have asked themselves why the coup seems to enjoy popular support of the citizens of Niger?
“I believe that the reasonable way out of this crisis is diplomacy. Nigeria is not in a position to go to war. Our Armed Forces are overstretched and underpaid. We are still struggling to overcome internal insecurity and insurgency.
“A country that is going through terrible financial crisis has no business going to war.”