The Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Gen. Christopher Musa, has refuted reports alleging that permission had been granted to France to establish an expeditionary military base in Nigeria.
Musa condemned the insinuation that the recent visit of President Bola Tinubu to France, where a lot of bilateral agreements were signed, included allowing foreign military bases in Nigeria.
The Defense Chief gave the clarification on Friday during the unveiling of the Armed Forces of Nigeria 2025 Tattoo Logo at the Defence Headquarters Abuja.
He said no foreign military base will be allowed in Nigeria.
“Mr President has said it should be very clear. Whatever he was signing is a bilateral agreement on trade, on culture, on tradition, on cooperation, on economy.
“Nothing like that. Mr President knows the implication. He knows that he must protect Nigeria and he will never allow any foreign body.
“We will continue to partner together bilaterally because we do training together and we will consistently send our officers which is a normal thing but having foreign military base in Nigeria is not part of Mr President’s plan.
“So I want to trust this as an opportunity to make that clarification,” he said.
