I was completely unprepared for the news that the Economic Community of West African States had decided to use military force to besiege the neighbouring Niger Republic during its strategic and extraordinary conference on the political crisis in the Niger Republic. I actually belonged to the large group of Nigerians who had the guts to rapidly debunk the alleged false news in order to prevent it from festering and becoming true. Eight ECOWAS presidents and the foreign ministers of Liberia and The Gambia attended the summit, which was purportedly organised under President Bola Tinubu’s direction.
While Tinubu deserves praise for his fearless demeanour and audacious leadership in the face of the most obvious threat to democracy in our continent’s history, he should be aware of the boundaries of his authority, particularly in relation to his romance with the legislature, which is constitutionally empowered to check the executive during times of apex, as we are experiencing in Nigeria right now.
There is no denying Tinubu’s important position of responsibility in the community of African countries. Tinubu’s election as ECOWAS’s head still serves as a brutal affirmation of Nigeria’s status as the continent’s spirit machine. As he leads, we must continue to hope that he receives the greatest honour possible for Nigeria.
However, it needs to be made clear that Tinubu’s status as President of Nigeria gave him the exceptional opportunity to take on the role of Chairman of ECOWAS. A constitutional position is that of president of Nigeria. The holder of a constitutional post shouldn’t act in a way that undermines the entirety of the body of laws that recognise him as the president. A special mention should also be made of the fact that his commitment to Nigeria does not in any way conflict with his loyalty to ECOWAS.
I am not surprised by the crucial action made by ECOWAS. A consensus established among the ECOWAS members should not, in my opinion, be directly or personally attributable to Tinubu. As the chairman, he could hardly pretend to have the duties of a football referee and not an autocrat in charge. Even though he is the chairman, the entire body of the regional bloc or organisation is not required to follow his lead, despite the fact that anyone would have expected him to preach peace by aiding a diplomatic resolution of the dispute in Niger.
By starting many conversations with the obstinate junta in Niger, Tinubu has made efforts to mediate peace. The desperate junta, which seems to have been protecting its head Abdourahmane Tiani from the reach of several delegations, would not yield until it has incited Nigeriens to defend their country in a terrible conflict. A bunch of vigilante organisations allegedly formed by young Nigerien men only yesterday. In an effort to fend off any assault from the rival African nations, this was done.
Sanusi Lamido is a member of the team that is skillfully being led by former Nigerian Head of State Abdusalami Abubakar. ECOWAS has diplomatically engaged Niger through its numerous delegations, including that of Patrice Talon of Benin and Mahamat Deby of the Chad Republic. The obstinate military junta has resisted making peace. According to reports, entry into Niamey, the Niger capital, was denied to the Abdusalami Abubakar group. They allegedly had been imprisoned in a room. This was true even if it included the Sultan of Sokoto, a well-known Nigerian sultan. From the aforementioned, it is logically clear why ECOWAS chose the road of war.
But our President and ECOWAS Chairman is physically unable to join this conflict. Both his hands and his tongue are restrained. At this crucial time, neither can communicate in the same language. His hands cannot raise a squadron on the field of terrible combat, but his lips can give the order. He is only able to “siddon look.”
By notifying the National Assembly of the situation in Niger, he has chosen the honourable course. He stated that he intended to enlist the Nigerian military in this pan-West African conflict. His appeal was for “military build-up and deployment of personnel for military intervention to enforce compliance of the military junta in Niger should they remain recalcitrant.”
Tinubu’s contentious plea ignited the flames in the Nigerian Senate. Representatives from the states bordering neighbouring Niger, the northern caucus, raised an informed objection because they believed a war against Niger could cause problems for their citizens. In addition to Mali, Burkina Faso, and other militarily dominated nations, intellectuals expected that the battle against Niger would also include those nations. Attention has been drawn to the recent trip made by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Burkina Faso. While this was going on, Nigerians, who took pride in promoting his name on the streets, curry his favour.
The Senate used its constitutional authority under section 5(4) to clearly oppose the proposed military intervention in favour of maintaining diplomatic ties between the two nations instead. Tinubu received the aforementioned legislative resolution.
“Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section: (a) the President shall not declare a state of war between the federation and another country except with the sanction of a resolution of both Houses of the National Assembly, sitting in a joint session; and (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.”
Building on the aforementioned clause, subsection 5 states: “Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, the President may, in consultation with the National Defence Council, deploy members of the Armed Forces of the Federation on a limited combat duty outside Nigeria if he is satisfied that the national security is under an immediate threat or danger: provided, however, that the President shall, within seven days of actual combat engag
Nigeria cannot be claimed to be under a real or immediate threat in this situation, one that would justify acting hastily. The request had been addressed and declined. Tinubu cannot turn a blind eye to this flagrant clause of the constitution that prevents him from launching any intervention in support of ECOWAS. He need only approve of the proclaimed military conflict with the Niger junta. Additionally, he is allowed to support the action in his capacity as the President of ECOWAS and not the President of Nigeria. Any additional executive orders in this direction are subject to mutiny, which is quite legitimate.
Always keep in mind that Tinubu was elected in a democratic process, not as a military leader. In a period and creation of the constitution, he cannot issue unconstitutional commands. The authors of the constitution are aware that the Commander-in-Chief must collaborate with legislators to come up with solutions to war-related issues because they are beyond his capacity to think through on his own. Even if he’s already demonstrated that he’s aware of it by writing to the Senate, he shouldn’t ignore this section.
