Coup: I’m Very Happy With What Happened In Gabon — Fayose

A former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, says he is pleased with developments in Gabon following soldiers’ seizure of power in the oil-rich Central African country.

In an exclusive interview on Channels Television’s Hard Copy on Friday, Fayose said that while he does not support military intervention in politics, he believes the recent wave of coups across the continent is the result of the sit-tight syndrome.

“I am very happy with what happened in Gabon, I don’t like military incursions in politics,” he said.

The military officers had on Wednesday toppled Gabon’s President, Ali Bongo, who has been in power for 14 years, hours after he was declared the victor in Saturday’s elections.

But Fayose does not see such happening in Nigeria despite the shortcomings in the country’s democratic journey.

“Remember that, now in Nigeria, you can see an interrupted democratic process. You can see that we know after four years there will be an election. Nigeria has gone from one party to another party, one person to another person in the space of time.

“But in a country where one man is spending 30 years, 20 years, 40 years, they must boot him out of the place, whichever way. That’s different from Nigeria’s setting,” he said.

“You can’t spend more than a particular number of years but don’t compare it with Nigeria. I’m not saying anything cannot happen – no coup.

“When you talk here, they will go and report you. They will come and carry you in the house because, the moment you hear about a coup and you do not report it – let me say to you, you deserve to be killed,” he said.

Buttressing his point, Fayose compared the oil-rich nation’s population to that of Nigeria, saying “Nigeria has a 200 million population, Gabon is 2.5 million, Ekiti is even more than Gabon”.