Following a successful coup in Gabon, Nigerian President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said a comprehensive consensus against the spread of “contagious autocracy” across Africa is the next step forward concerning how the power in Gabon will play out.
The chairperson of ECOWAS, who stated this in his first response to the early morning Wednesday coup in Gabon, noted that he is committed to working with other heads of state to defend democracy on the continent.
According to a statement by the Presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement released on Wednesday, he is “watching closely with deep concern” for Gabon’s socio-political stability and “at the seeming autocratic contention spreading across different regions of our beloved continent.”
The statement reads: “President Bola Tinubu is watching closely with deep concern for the country’s social-political stability and at the seeming autocratic contention spreading across different regions of our beloved continent.
“The President as a man who has made significant, personal sacrifices in his own life while 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 continues to communicate with other Heads of State in the African Union towards a comprehensive consensus on the next steps forward concerning how the power in Gabon will play out and how the continent will respond to contagious autocracy we have seen spread across our continent.”
Tinubu is leading ECOWAS’ efforts to reverse the coup in neighbouring Niger and has been reluctant to authorise the use of force as approved by the ECOWAS heads of government to restore constitutional order in Niger.
The Informant247 had reported how the Gabon military seized power in the early morning of Wednesday, announcing that they had cancelled the elections, dissolved all state institutions and closed the country’s borders.