I’m Very Happy With Gabon Coup – Fayose

• Kazeem Badmus

A former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, says he is pleased with developments in Gabon following soldiers’ seizure of power in the oil-rich Central African country.

OSUN DEFENDER had reported that soldiers on Wednesday, announced the cancellation of election results said to have been won by Ondimba Ali Bongo and the dissolution of “all the institutions of the republic.”

The announcement came after President Ali Bongo, 64, was re-elected for a third term, extending his family’s half-century rule over the oil-rich Central African country of 2.3 million, but the opposition described the poll as a ‘fraud orchestrated’ by the ruling party.

The Bongo family, one of Africa’s most powerful dynasties, has been in power since 1967.

In an exclusive interview on Channels Television’s Hard Copy on Friday, Fayose said that while he does not support military intervention in politics, he believes the recent wave of coups across the continent is the result of the sit-tight syndrome.
“I am very happy with what happened in Gabon, I don’t like military incursions in politics,” he said.

The military officers had on Wednesday toppled Gabon’s President, Ali Bongo, who has been in power for 14 years, hours after he was declared the victor in Saturday’s elections.

But Fayose does not see such happening in Nigeria despite the shortcomings in the country’s democratic journey.