By Adadareporters
General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, Gabon’s chief of the Republican Guard, has been designated the president of the transitional committee of Gabon.
Oligui is ousted Ali Bongo’s cousin. He had been a bodyguard for Bongo’s late father, President Omar Bongo, and was the head of the secret service before becoming the leader of the guard.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has expressed concerns about Gabon coup.
Recall that military officers in Gabon took power and put the president, Ali Bongo, under house arrest. Gabon has become the latest in Africa to suffer a coup, only weeks after mutinous troops seized power in Niger.
Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, stated Tinubu’s worries while briefing State House Correspondents in Abuja.
According to him, Tinubu would consult 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.
According to him, “President Tinubu is watching closely with deep concerns 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.”
Gabon is rich in natural resources such as timber, manganese and oil and it’s the fifth largest oil producing nation in Africa. The country’s oil sector now accounts for 50 per cent of its GDP and 80 per cent of its exports.
Ngelale said Tinubu affirmed that the rule of law and recourse to the constitutional resolutions and instruments of electoral dispute needed to be used in the matters of democratic challenges.
In his words, “To this end, the lresident is working very closely and continues to communicate with other heads of states in the African Union.
‘’This is towards a comprehensive consensus on the next steps forwards with respect to how the power in Gabon will play out and how the continent will respond to contagious autocracy spreading across the continent.”
