The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu has reacted to the unconstitutional change of government in neighbouring Republic of Gabon, revealing that he was already in talks with other world leaders on how to respond to the spreading autocratic tendencies across the continent in recent times.
Speaking to reporters about the situation at State House in Abuja, the president’s spokeswoman, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed that Tinubu had been extremely concerned about the coup in Gabon. According to Ngelale, Tinubu was adamant that the African people, not a rifle barrel, should hold the reins of power.
The presidential spokesperson also said that Tinubu had a “fruitful” phone chat yesterday afternoon regarding the coup in Gabon and the illegitimate change of government in the Niger Republic last month.
Africa Today News, New York had yesterday reported that soldiers had staged a coup in Libreville, the Gabonese capital, and toppled the government of President Ali Bongo.
Bongo called for protest from within and outside his country to restore democracy.
Interestingly, a video clip recorded five years ago at the University of Oxford, England, where Bongo shared his thoughts on term limits for African presidents, went viral shortly after the putsch in Gabon.
Read Also: Bongo’s Ouster In Gabon Coup Sparks Global Leaders’ Outrage
Just recently, Bongo had during the country’s independence anniversary earlier this month also acknowledged the growing threat of military coups in the continent, but vowed it would never happen in Gabon on his watch.
Oil markets were left smarting by a second coup in five weeks in Africa, after the putsch in Gabon, an oil producer, bringing the recent wave of West African putsches to OPEC’s doorstep.
Bongo was accused of high treason by the group of high-ranking officers who deposed him. The group equally said other government officials as well as Bongo’s son, Nouredine Bongo, had been arrested.
The military leaders in Gabon announced they had seized power, days after the nation’s presidential election, which confirmed President Ali Bongo Ondimba’s third term.
The election results were alleged by the coup plotters to have been falsified.
The military group said state institutions had been dissolved with immediate effect, with the election results annulled, and the country’s borders closed. The group called itself the Committee for Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI).
The announcement came a few hours after the electoral body declared Bongo winner of the election with 64.27 per cent of the vote.
Gabon, a Central African country, is rich in natural resources. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, it borders Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of Congo. It is sparsely populated, with a population of 2.3 million (2021) and forests covering 88 per cent of its territory.
Further sharing Tinubu’s views on the situation, Ngelale said, “President Bola Tinubu is watching developments in Gabon very closely with deep concern for the country’s socio-political stability and at the seeming autocratic contagion apparently spreading across different regions of our beloved continent.
“The president, as a man who has made significant personal sacrifices in his own life in the course of advancing and defending democracy, is of the unwavering belief that power belongs in the hands of Africa’s great people and not in the barrel of a loaded gun.
“The president affirms that the rule of law and a faithful recourse to the constitutional resolutions and instruments of electoral dispute resolution must not at any time be allowed to perish from our great continent.
“To this end, the president is working very closely and continuing to communicate with other Heads of State in the African Union and beyond towards a comprehensive consensus on the next steps forward with respect to how the crisis in Gabon will play out and how the continent will respond to the contagion of autocracy we are seeing spread across our continent.”
On the conversation with Trudeau, Ngelale said the two leaders agreed to promote and protect constitutional orders in the African continent.