Senate to hold closed briefing over us air strikes in Sokoto after lawmakers raise sovereignty concerns
Nigeria’s senate has disclosed plans to hold a closed-door briefing on the United States air strikes carried out on December 25 against terrorist targets in Sokoto state, following complaints that the National Assembly was not consulted before the operation.
The move followed concerns raised during plenary by Abdul Ningi, an opposition senator representing Bauchi Central, who argued that the strikes amounted to a breach of Nigeria’s territorial integrity and should have been subjected to legislative oversight.
Raising the matter under Order 42, which deals with issues of privilege, Ningi said the National Assembly had a constitutional role in matters of national security and foreign military engagement and should not have been sidelined.
He warned that allowing the executive to unilaterally approve foreign military operations within Nigeria could set a dangerous precedent, potentially emboldening other global powers to act without reference to parliament.
“It is not right. If we begin to dilly-dally, it becomes a problem,” Ningi told fellow lawmakers. “The leadership of the National Assembly should be briefed by the security agencies on what actually happened. This is a violation of our territorial integrity.”
Responding, senate president Godswill Akpabio said arrangements had already been made to brief senators in an executive session but that the meeting could not hold as planned.
According to Akpabio, the closed briefing was postponed following the suspension of legislative activities in honour of the late Senator Godiya Akwashiki, who died on December 31, 2025.
“This is a security matter and we really should not discuss it in the open,” Akpabio said. “We wanted to do it behind closed doors yesterday, but because of Senator Akwashiki, we couldn’t. Your point of order is noted and arrangements will be made to brief senators in a closed session.”
The US air strikes, carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities, targeted camps linked to Islamic State in the Sahel province. US Africa Command said several ISIS fighters were killed in the operation.