Some northern activists and New Nigeria Peoples Party Party, NNPP, has cautioned the Federal Government against signing any military pact with the US and France to pave way for relocation of their military bases to the country.
The northern leaders have actually written President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly, NASS, on why the federal government should not allow the relocation of the military from the Sahel to Nigeria.
They said it was common knowledge that the American and French governments had been desperately lobbying the governments of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Ghana to agree to sign new defense pacts that would enable them redeploy their soldiers expelled from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
According to the leaders, on December 22, 2023, the last of France’s 1,500 troops deployed in Niamey, Niger, and two other bases in the tri-frontier of Niger were marched out of the country.
They stated further that on March 16, 2024, Niger Republic suspended the military agreement with the United States signed in 2012, which allowed the US to station about 1100 US troops and civilian personnel permanently in Niger, to operate from two American bases in the country.