President Bola Tinubu has condemned the activities of coup plotters who have overthrown President Ali Bongo Ondimba.

In his conversation with journalists, presidential media aide Ajuri Ngelale also expressed Tinubu’s belief that the rule of law and a faithful recourse to a constitutional resolution of electoral disputes must not be allowed to perish in Africa.

Ngelale said on Wednesday, August 30: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is watching developments in Gabon very closely with deep concern for the country’s sociopolitical stability and the seeming autocratic contagion apparently spreading across different regions of our beloved continent.

“The president, as a man who has made significant personal sacrifices in his own life, in the cause of advancing and defending democracy, has all of the unwavering belief that power belongs in the hands of Africa’s great people, and not in the barrel of a loaded gun.”

Ngelale added that Tinubu affirmed that “the rule of law and a faithful recourse to constitutional resolutions and instruments of electoral dispute resolution must not at any time be allowed to perish from our great continent”.

He noted that Tinubu is “working very closely and continuing to communicate with other heads of state in the African Union towards a comprehensive consensus on the next steps forward concerning how the crisis in Gabon will play out into how the continent will respond to the contagion of autocracy we are seeing spread across our continent”.