By Isaac Daniel
Nigerian President, President Bola Tinubu, has totally condemned the military coup carried out in Gabon in on Wednesday, August 30th.
Addressing State House correspondents, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, expressed Tinubu’s belief that the rule of law and a faithful recourse to the constitutional resolution of electoral disputes must not be allowed to perish in Africa.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is watching developments in Gabon very closely with deep concern for the country’s sociopolitical stability and 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 cause of advancing and defending democracy, has all of the unwavering belief that power belongs in the hands of Africa’s great people, and not in the barrel of a loaded gun.”
Ngelale further explained that Tinubu affirmed that “the rule of law and a faithful recourse to constitutional resolutions and instruments of electoral dispute resolution must not at any time be allowed to perish from our great continent”.
He said that President Tinubu is “working very closely and continuing to communicate with other heads of state in the African Union towards a comprehensive consensus on the next steps forward with respect to how the crisis in Gabon will play out into how the continent will respond to the contagion of autocracy we are seeing spread across our continent”.
On Wednesday, a group of Soldiers Seize Power in Gabon Over Election Rigging
Gabonese Soldiers took power on live TV Wednesday morning after president Ali Bongo was declared the winner of electron.
The ousted President’s family has been in power for 53 years through his father, an ex-President of the country, who died in power and his son took over instantly. Ali Bongo was announced as election winner in the disputed elections, which the military gave as the reason for staging the coup.
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Appearing on state television channel Gabon 24, the officers said they represented all security and defence forces in the nation. The soldiers said the election results were cancelled, all borders closed until further notice and state institutions dissolved.
“In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the officers said.
Tensions were high after Saturday’s presidential, parliamentary, and legislative vote, which saw Bongo claim victory, to extend his family’s 56-year dominance on power in the Central African Country.
The opposition claimed multiple electoral malpractices and have been pushing for change in the oil and cocoa-rich but poverty-stricken nation.
A lack of international observers, the suspension of some foreign broadcasts, and the authorities’ decision to cut internet service and impose a night-time curfew nationwide after the poll raised concerns about the transparency of the electoral process, prompting the soldiers to take over government.
The coup makes Gabon the latest African country to be taken over by the military following Burkina Faso, Mali, and the latest Niger Republic, which has prompted threats of an invasion by the Nigeria led ECOWAS bloc.
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The military has announced a coup in Gabon, deposing President Ali Bongo, who was declared winner of Saturday’s election.
Bongo, who came to power after the death of his father in 2009, won a third term in an election which opposition argued was heavily disputed.
The BBC quoted soldiers to have appeared on Gabonese national television in Gabon to say they had taken power.
The coupists also announced the annulment of Saturday’s election.
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