On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Early Start,” Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar argued that the Nigerian government has the will to fight terrorism but “We may have institutional challenges, partly due to, for instance, the Leahy law that stopped the sale of military equipment, both kinetic and non-kinetic, to countries like Nigeria.” And noted that the first Trump administration allowed some military aircraft to be sold to Nigeria.
Tuggar said, “What took place yesterday clearly underscores the fact that Nigeria is not lacking in will and a commitment to the fight against terrorism. We may have institutional challenges, partly due to, for instance, the Leahy law that stopped the sale of military equipment, both kinetic and non-kinetic, to countries like Nigeria.”
He continued, “And I have to say here, also, that even when the Leahy law was in effect, President Trump, in his first administration, acquiesced to the sale of aircraft, military aircraft, the Super Tucano, to Nigeria. And we appreciate that. And you could see that it was — the aircraft were put to work, and this is the sort of collaborative effort that is required in the fight against terrorism and securing the region.”
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