Osinbajo speaks on ‘coup contagion’ in West Africa

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has reaffirmed its stance that there is no excuse for a change of government by coup d’etat.
In a statement, Mr Osinbajo’s media aide Laolu Akande said the vice president spoke with journalists after the ECOWAS extraordinary summit on the political situations in Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea on Thursday in Accra.
“I think it has been fruitful. The heads of state again reiterated the firm position that had been taken earlier that there is absolutely no excuse for a change of government by coup d’etat,” stated the Nigerian vice president. “So, what happened in Burkina Faso was considered and has been condemned by all of the heads of state, and we do not think there is any excuse for it whatsoever.”
He added that engagement was ongoing with the military junta at the moment.
Mr Osinbajo congratulated President Sissoco Embalo and the people of Guinea-Bissau for surviving an attempted coup by renegade soldiers.
“All in all, it has been fruitful, and we are very hopeful that lessons had been learnt, and we will not see a repeat of this,” added the Nigerian vice president.
On the situation in Mali, the vice president said ECOWAS was expecting that the Malian authorities would respond to ECOWAS imposed sanctions.
“As you know, and we expect that at some point, the Malian authorities themselves would begin to speed up the process of transition. We expect that they will do so,” said Mr Osinbajo. “We are looking forward to that engagement.”
(NAN)
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette

Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Opinion
Abdul Mahmud: Some foundational arguments on state police (Part Deux)
What kind of police federalism does Nigeria need?

States
Kano architects demand strict enforcement of building regulations
Disturbed by recurring cases of building collapses, the Kano State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Architects has called for strict enforcement of building regulations.

States
Flooding: NEMA, KADSEMA search for missing persons in Kaduna River
NEMA and KADSEMA have launched a search-and-rescue operation for two persons swept away by floodwaters in the Kaduna River.

States
Police rescue 15 cows, one Katsina resident from bandits
The police command in Katsina says it has foiled kidnap and cattle rustling attempts in Funtua and Musawa council areas, rescuing one kidnap victim and recovering 15 rustled cows.

Agriculture
Farmers seek subsidised farm inputs to boost food production in Taraba
The farmers said the high cost and limited availability of fertilisers and other essential farm inputs had become major constraints as the rainy season commenced.

Politics
Kaduna: 12,000 people defect to APC in Lere LG
Twelve thousand members of opposition political parties have defected to the All Progressives Congress in the Lere council area of Kaduna.





