‘I’m watching closely with concern’: Tinubu speaks on Gabon coup

President Bola Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has expressed concern over the Wednesday coup in Gabon, a country in Central Africa.

Military officers in Gabon say they have taken power and put President Ali Bongo under house arrest, as the country becomes the latest in Africa to suffer an attempted coup, only weeks after mutinous troops seized power in Niger.

Tinubu, while speaking with State House correspondents through his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, said he would consult with other Heads of State and Government in the African Union on the Gabon crisis with a view to determining the way forward for the natural resource-rich country.

Ngelale said: “President Bola Tinubu is watching closely with deep concern for the country’s social-political stability and at the seeming autocratic contention apparently spreading across different regions of our beloved continent.

“The president as a man who has made significant sacrifices in his life in the course of advancing and defending democracy is of the belief that power belongs in the hands of Africa’s great people and not in the barrel of a loaded gun.”

Ngelale stated the president affirmed that the rule of law and recourse to the constitutional resolutions and instruments of electoral dispute needed to be used in matters of democratic challenges.

He added: “To this end, the president is working very closely and continues to communicate with other Heads of State in the African Union.

“This is towards a comprehensive consensus on the next steps forward with respect to how the power in Gabon will play out and how the continent will respond to contagious autocracy spreading across the continent.”

Military officers announced the takeover of the democratically elected government of Bongo on Wednesday after a disputed election on Tuesday, August 29.

They also announced the cancellation of the election results and the dissolution of “all the institutions of the republic”.

The army officers are said to be meeting later on Wednesday to decide who would lead the transition authority.

Gabon is rich in natural resources such as timber, manganese and oil and it’s the fifth-largest oil-producing nation in Africa, which has helped drive its strong growth.

The country’s oil sector now accounts for 50 per cent of its GDP and 80 per cent of its exports.

The Commonwealth has also expressed fear about the military takeover in the country with Secretary-General Patricia Scotland saying the situation was “deeply concerning”.

“The Commonwealth Charter is clear that member states must uphold the rule of law and the principles of democracy at all times,” Scotland said.

The Star