President Bola Tinubu has expressed profound concern over the ousting of re-elected Gabon President, Ali Bongo.
Tinubu’s response materialized shortly after a faction of Gabonese military officers made a televised appearance on Wednesday, declaring their intentions to “terminate the current regime” and invalidate an election which, by official accounts, President Ali Bongo Ondimba had emerged victorious in.
Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, conveyed Tinubu’s sentiments to journalists.
He highlighted Tinubu’s conviction that upholding the rule of law and adhering to constitutional avenues for resolving electoral disputes should not wane within the African context.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is vigilantly monitoring the unfolding events in Gabon with genuine apprehension for the nation’s socio-political stability and the ominous diffusion of autocratic tendencies that seem to be pervading diverse regions of our cherished continent,” Ngelale shared.
“As a leader who has made significant personal sacrifices in his own journey, in the pursuit of advancing and safeguarding democracy, the President staunchly believes that power should remain in the hands of Africa’s resilient populace, and not be dictated by the might of weaponry.”
Ngelale further expounded that Tinubu reasserted the vital principle that “the rule of law and a steadfast commitment to constitutional mechanisms for addressing electoral disputes must persistently endure throughout our great continent.”
Tinubu, according to Ngelale, is “collaborating closely and maintaining ongoing dialogues with fellow heads of state within the African Union, as part of an endeavor to establish a comprehensive consensus regarding the forthcoming course of action amidst the Gabon crisis, as well as the collective response of the continent in the face of the encroaching wave of autocracy.”
