President Muhammadu Buhari has raised the alarm over the recent trend of the unconstitutional takeover of power in some West African countries, urging world leaders to reject military coups.

According to Buhari, unconstitutional takeovers, sometimes in reaction to unilateral changes of constitutions by some leaders, should not be tolerated by the international community.

In his speech at the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly on Friday in New York, the president warned that the democratic gains of the past decades in West Africa ‘‘are now being eroded’’ due to these negative trends.

Mr Buhari affirmed Nigeria’s support to efforts by ECOWAS, AU and the UN to address this growing challenge.

‘‘As leaders of our individual member-states, we need to adhere to the constitutional provisions of our countries, particularly on term limits,” said he stated. “This is one area that generates crisis and political tension in our sub-region.”

The president urged the international community not only to deal with the symptoms of conflict but also the immediate causes that fuel conflicts in the first place.

‘‘These include poor and undemocratic governance, human rights abuses, poverty, ignorance, injustice and inequalities,” he pointed out.

‘‘There are no easy solutions to these conditions. They require long-term investments and more effective international cooperation,” Mr Buhari added. “In this connection, my delegation underscores the importance of promoting peaceful, unfettered, and inclusive participation of states in global actions towards conflict prevention. This will facilitate the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union Agenda 2063.”

The president’s speech, delivered from the podium of the general assembly hall, addressed other matters on the international agenda of interest to Nigeria, including the COVID-19 pandemic, Arms Trade Treaty, climate change and terrorism.

The speech also touched on the efforts of his administration on anti-corruption, debt suspension, international trade, UN Security Council Reform, Palestinian Question, racial discrimination, among others. 
(NAN)