President Bola Tinubu has alerted African political leaders to discourage any coups d’état, Savannah News Reports.
Tinubu was recently elected as ECOWAS authority Chairperson.
The statement was made on Saturday at a high-level event organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the margins of the Fifth Mid-Year African Union (AU) Coordination Meeting, in Nairobi, Kenya.
He said coups d’état should be discouraged in Africa, especially in the face of challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, insecurity, and climate change.
The statement was presented on his behalf by Ambassador Adamu Ibrahim Lamuwa, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Tinubu said it was regrettable that West Africa, despite its numerous instruments and mechanisms for promoting democracy and good governance, is leading other regions in the use of unconstitutional means to change governments.
Dele Alake, Special Adviser to the President (Special Duties, Communications and Strategy) quoted the President while addressing press.
Dele Alake statement reads:”This ugly trend has only succeeded in threatening the peace, security and stability of the sub-region and by extension the African continent, leaving in its trail poverty, internally-displaced persons and humanitarian crisis. In the same vein, this ugly trend has also led to food shortages and escalated health challenges.
“We therefore must take deliberate steps to address the root causes of unconstitutional changes and coups d’état in Africa. As a continent, we cannot make progress toward achieving the goals and targets of the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, as well as those of the AU Agenda 2063 for the ‘Africa We Want.”
Alake warned that the ugly trend of the military straying into the political arena is causing threats to peace, security, and stability, and engendering poverty, displacement, and humanitarian crises.
“Between 2020 and now, Africa has witnessed six successful coups d’état and three unsuccessful attempts. This rise in military takeovers and unconstitutional changes in government disrupts our democratic processes and undermines stability on the continent.
”It is for this reason that I call on all African leaders at all levels to make concerted efforts in respecting the tenets of democracy and the rule of law, in order to ensure political stability on the continent.”
Speaking further: He call on all Afro-centric supranational organisations, especially the African Union, the various Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms, to individually and collectively adopt Protocols on democracy and good governance, and ensure their effective implementation.”
