Posted by From LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja on
President Umaru Yar'Adua yesterday condemned the early morning military coup in Mauritania which overthrew the democratic government of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, saying neither Nigeria nor Africa Union would accord any form of recognition to the coupists.
President Umaru Yar'Adua yesterday condemned the early morning military coup in Mauritania which overthrew the democratic government of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, saying neither Nigeria nor Africa Union would accord any form of recognition to the coupists.
A tough-talking Yar'Adua made this known in Abuja yesterday when he received the chiefs of Defence Staff of the ECOWAS states. He pointed out that the sad development had cast a dark shadow on the West African sub-region and was capable of rubbishing democratic gains recorded so far in the area.
The President said Nigeria will not recognise any change of government done through unconstitutional means, adding 'we cannot afford turning back the hand of the clock anywhere in the sub-region.'
According to him, Nigeria would continue to lead the efforts to maintain peace and political stability in the sub region and the entire African continent., Yar'Adua noting that no country within the sub-region could achieve any meaningful socio-economic development without peace and political stability.
He assured that Nigeria would facilitate the urgent establishment of the West African Stand-by Force as soon as possible in its determination to ensure peace in the sub region as well as assist in any other way in the realization of that.
Earlier, the chairman of the ECOWAS military chiefs, General Alli Traore of Burkina Faso, had told the president that a concrete agreement had been reached by the military chiefs for the imminent take off of the stand-by force, saying the force would comprise soldiers, police and gendermes.
He said although uneasy calm still pervades some countries in the sub-region, the overall security situation in the sub-region has improved tremendously.
Coupists led by the former head of the Mauritanian presidential guard, General Mohammed Ould Abdelaziz, had early Wednesday sacked President Abdallahi's government and arrested the president and the country's Prime Minister, Yahia Ould Ahmed El-Ouakef shortly after the president himself, sacked many senior army officers.