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Gabon: Tinubu moves against junta, rallies world leaders *Insists coup unacceptable
Like he did in Niger Republic, President Bola Tinubu, is already talking tough over the coup in Gabon that chased away the country’s civilian government led by Ali Bongo on Wednesday, insisting that military coups remained unacceptable anywhere in Africa.
Tinubu, is in agreement with world leaders, who also seemed to have harkened to the cry for help from Bongo, scion of former lifetime leader, Omar Bongo, who died in office after more than three decades in power, having called on friends across the world to save him from his ordeal by “making noise.”
The world leaders, including the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), European Union (EU), United States (U.S.), Russia and others, not only demanded the safety of the deposed President, but asked the junta to return to their barracks and restore democratic order.
France, Gabonese colonial master, which also condemned the coup, said through Olivier Veran, government spokesman: “France has maintained close economic, diplomatic and military ties with Gabon, and has 400 soldiers stationed in the country leading a regional military training operation.
In the same vein, the U.S. described the development as “deeply concerning,” adding in a statement by John Kirby White House National Security spokesman: “We are going to watch this closely, and we’re going to continue to do everything we can to support the idea of democratic ideals that are expressed by the African people.”
China on its part, while calling on relevant parties in Gabon to restore order as soon as possible, urged them to ensure the personal safety of President Bongo, maintain national peace, stability, and overall development, according to Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry.
Moscow, through Maria Zakharova Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, while stating that it received with concern reports of the sharp deterioration in the internal situation in Gabon, added: “We continue to closely monitor the development of the situation and hope for its speedy stabilization.”
Margarita Robles Spain’s Acting Defence Minister, while highlighting her country’s position on the development during a meeting of European Union Defence Ministers in Toledo, said Spain, whose about 140 troops are stationed to the northeast of Mali’s capital, Bamako, as part of the EU’s training mission, was monitoring events in Africa’s Sahel region with great concern.
The coup in Gabon, a thinly-populated, but oil-rich country, would be the sixth on the African continent in six years, after countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Chad and most recently Niger Republic, despite the revulsion of the African Union to such undemocratic moves to regime changes.
Holed up in his residence in Libreville, where he has been kept under a house arrest by the soldiers, who announced the take-over of political power early morning on Wednesday, following what they said was an unacceptable electoral process that gave the President who came into power in 2009 after the father’s death, Bongo had begged his friends across the world to intervene.
In the viral video, he made to underscore his situation, the ousted President, said: “I’m Ali Bongo Odinba, President of Gabon. I’m to send a message to all my friends that we have all over the world and to tell them to make noise, to make noise, for the people here have arrested me and my family.
“My son is somewhere and my wife is in another place and I’m at the residence. Right now, I’m in the residence. Nothing is happening, nothing is happening really. I don’t know what is going on. So, I’m calling you to make noise, to make noise, to make noise really. I’m thanking you. Thank you!”
Tinubu’s fresh moves, saw him speaking with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and some ECOWAS leaders in his capacity as the chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, on Wednesday to find a way to move in and arrest the situation.
In a statement by Ajuri Ngelari, his spokesman, said the President indicated his readiness to see to the restoration of order in Gabon, on the same day UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the takeover through his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, who said he “firmly condemns the ongoing coup attempt as a means to resolve the post-electoral crisis and reaffirms his strong opposition to military coups.”
The AU through the Head of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, also echoed the same sentiments by calling on security forces to peacefully return to “democratic constitutional order,” in a statement by his spokesman, who added: “He calls on the national army and the security forces to guarantee the personal safety of the president, the members of his family and those of his government.”
Josep Borrell, a top EU diplomat, while stating the position of the body said the situation would be discussed by the bloc’s ministers this week, adding: “If this is confirmed, it’s another military coup, which increases instability in the whole region,” while Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland called the coup “an illegal takeover of power.”
She said: “The Commonwealth Charter is clear that member states must uphold the rule of law and the principles of democracy at all times and the Commonwealth Secretariat will be keenly monitoring the situation.”
But, while Bongo, rallied support to end the coup, citizens trooped out into the streets in celebration chanting the national anthem, saying the country had been saved from decades of the vice grip of the family getting rich on the country’s wealth while many of its citizens struggle to scrape by.
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.
A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.
Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.
Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement
“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.
“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”
Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.
He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.
“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”
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