Ibadan – The presidency has revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered the deployment of Nigerian fighter jets to Benin Republic on Sunday to help foil an attempted coup and protect the country’s democracy.
According to a statement made available late Sunday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to Tinubu, the President acted after receiving urgent requests from the Benin government for military assistance.
The statement noted that Tinubu first directed Nigerian Air Force fighter jets to secure Benin’s airspace and support loyal forces working to dislodge coup plotters who had seized the National TV station and regrouped at a nearby military camp.
Situation ‘under control’ after coup attempt, says Benin president
Benin’s president said Sunday that the “situation is completely under control” in his country after the government thwarted an attempted coup thanks to loyalist soldiers.
A group of soldiers announced earlier in the day on state television that they had ousted President Patrice Talon.
That sparked a swift response from loyal army forces, air strikes from neighbouring Nigeria and the deployment of troops from other countries in the region.
Beninese military and security sources said that around a dozen soldiers had been arrested, including those behind the coup bid.
Shettima arrives Abidjan to represent Tinubu at Ouattara’s inauguration
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where he is representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at Monday’s inauguration of President Alassane Ouattara for a fourth term in office.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, Senator Shettima will join several African leaders and international dignitaries at the swearing-in ceremony scheduled to take place at the Presidential Palace on December 8.
Ouattara was re-elected on October 25, securing another mandate to lead the West African country, which enjoys longstanding diplomatic, economic and security partnerships with Nigeria.
PDP will not die, Wike vows
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Sunday vowed that he and other founding members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not allow entrants from other parties to undermine or destroy the party.
Speaking at the 104th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at his official residence in Abuja, Wike criticised a faction of the party for violating court judgments by holding what he described as an “illegal convention.”
He stressed that the PDP must uphold judicial processes to regain public trust.
Wike-led PDP constitutes National Caretaker Committee
The National Executive Committee (NEC) Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has constituted a National Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of the party, ahead of the expiration of the current National Working Committee (NWC) on Tuesday, December 9, 2025.
This decision was taken at the 104th NEC meeting of the party held in Abuja on Sunday, December 7, 2025.
The 13-member Caretaker Committee has Hon. Abdulrahman Mohammed as Chairman and Senator Samuel Anyanwu as Secretary.
2027 Guber: Lawmaker Buhari joins Oyo governorship race
Lawmaker, Senator AbdulFatai Buhari, has announced his decision to run in the 2027 governorship election in Oyo State.
The Senator representing Oyo North and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Land Transport, made his decision official on Sunday.
Buhari will be contesting on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The three-term lawmaker, while addressing journalists in Ibadan, revealed he will not be seeking a fourth term in the Senate.
Car bomb kills five near Mexican police station
Mexican authorities on Sunday said at least five people died and three more were injured after a car exploded near a police station in the restive western state of Michoacan.
The explosion took place shortly before noon local time (1800 GMT) on Saturday in front of the police headquarters in the coastal city of Coahuayana, according to Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, which has taken over the investigation of the case.
The state prosecutor’s office raised the initial toll from three fatal victims to five, adding that three of them were local police officers.
Several drug trafficking groups operate in Michoacan, including the New Michoacan Family and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), both of which the US government has designated as “foreign terrorist organisations.”
