Coup In Gabon: What Atiku, Obi, Others Must Do To Avoid Coup In Nigeria

Hours after the military took over power from President Ali Bongo in Gabon, the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, have been urged to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to avoid another coup in West Africa.

A former aide to Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Reno Omokri who made the call also reached out to past and serving leaders of the country behind President Tinubu even as West Africa is gradually becoming a hub for coup.

VerseNews earlier reported that Bongo who was reelected on Saturday after securing two-thirds of votes cast would be in charge of the country’s government after some members of the country’s announced the cessation of power after dissolving “all the institutions of the republic”.

To this, Omokri who predicted that the region may witness another military intervention if the member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) failed to resolve the Niger crisis.

Omokri in a tweet monitored by this Online News Website urged leaders to support Tinubu in his response to the latest military invasion in Gabon.

“The military coup that occurred in Gabon last night vindicates my earlier assertion that if the ECOWAS allows the July 26, 2023 Nigerien military coup against the democratically elected Mohamed Bazoum led administration to stand, it will have a domino effect across West Africa and regions contiguous to our region,” he said.

“This is precisely what happened in the sixties. It started with the first ever West African coup in Togo on 13 January 1963, which then spread to neighbouring Benin Republic on October 28, 1963, and then Nigeria on January 15, 1966, and to Ghana the next month, until West Africa became known as the ‘coup belt’.

“We are now seeing a repeat of that domino effect. And nobody must make the mistake of thinking that it will stop if we do not act. Nigeria is the regional power, and those who have ability also have responsibility.

“I, therefore, call on all Nigerian past and present leaders at all levels, including members of the opposition, to join President Bola Tinubu, and his government, for the LIMITED purpose of reversing the coup in Niger Republic and reinstating the democratically elected government of Mohamed Bazoum, and to support whatever will be Nigeria’s response to this new coup in Gabon.”