Coup: Gabon military did the right thing –Fayose

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has hailed the coup leaders of Gabon, saying a country where leaders hold onto power for 30 years should be booted out in whatever way.

Fayose made the comment Friday during a Channels Television interview.

Recall that soldiers toppled the government of President Ali Bongo, 64, after he was re-elected for a third tenure.

His controversial victory extended his family’s more than half-century rule of the oil-rich Central African country of 2.3 million people. The opposition described the poll as a “fraud”.

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

While speaking on Channels Television’s Hard Copy, the former governor said he does not endorse military intervention in politics, adding that the recent surge of coups in Africa is a mark of the sit-tight syndrome.

Fayose said, “I am very happy with what happened in Gabon. I don’t like military incursions in politics but I want to say to you that Nigeria is different, we have a reasonably stabilised democracy.

“We have our flaws but you can see the uninterrupted democratic process. After four years there will be an election… Nigeria has gone from one party to another party.

“One person to another person within a space of time. But in a country where one man is spending 30, 40 years. You have to boot him out of the place in whatever way.

“That’s different from the Nigerian setting. Nigeria has submitted but we are not there yet in the final order.”