The House of Representatives has condemned the resurgence of coups d’etats in Africa, following the military ouster of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore of Burkina Faso by the country’s Army.
The House, therefore, urged the Federal Government to strongly condemn the coups, impose strong sanctions, and mobilise other nations and stakeholders to impose very extensive sanctions.
It also called on the United Nations (UN) and its agencies as well as the international community to impose total sanctions on those countries where coups d’état have taken place in West Africa.
The Green Chamber further asked civil society organisations across the sub-region and internationally to condemn coups, support civil society, political parties, and parliaments to work for the immediate restoration of democratic governance in the affected Nations.
The House decisions followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo) at plenary on Wednesday.
Presenting the motion, Ihonvbere expressed apprehension over the frightening emerging trend of Military coups in the West African sub-region with the most recent coup in Burkina Faso being part of a resurgence of ‘’a Coup Culture’’ in West Africa.
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He noted that for the fourth time in only six months, violence has facilitated the transfer of power in West Africa with Guinea, Mali, (twice in the past seventeen months) and Chad, seeing new leaders emerge from their respective Militaries, and Burkina Faso a few days ago, witnessed the overthrow of President Roch Kabore.
The Professor of Political Science asserted that the illegal takeover of power from democratically elected governments violates several national constitutions, international conventions and protocols established by multilateral organizations, donors and development partners.
According to him, since Nigeria, the traditional powerhouse in the sub-region transited from military to civilian in 1999, there has been a strong sense that the days of military coups are effectively over, but with this emerging trend, that positive trajectory is now being reversed with the rather quick successive coups in the region.
“Coups subvert political processes, promote tensions and violence, suffocate democratic spaces, suppress basic freedoms, contain civil society and promote corrupt undemocratic governance.
“If the trend is not immediately and firmly checked, it could erode the democratic achievements made thus far, distort the emerging culture of constitutionalism, and promote opportunistic and undemocratic actors in the region, and by extension the continent”, Ihonvbere noted.
