Libreville: Army officers who seized power in Gabon in a coup have named General Brice Oligui Nguema, former head of the presidential guard, as the new transitional leader of the Central African nation, while President Ali Bongo Ondimba has been deposed.
Just hours after the military announced Wednesday that they had dissolved state institutions and annulled the result of the August 26 election which declared President Bongo as the winner giving him a third term in office, generals met to discuss who would lead the transition and agreed by a unanimous vote to appoint the 48-year-old Gen Nguema, the BBC reported.
Gen Nguema was absent from the first three statements read out by senior army officers on national television to announce the coup.
As soon as he was named transitional leader, the General was carried triumphally through the streets of the capital Libreville by his troops.
Gen Nguema was aide-de-camp to the ousted President’s father, Omar Bongo, who ruled for almost 42 years until his death in 2009, reports the BBC.
Under Ali Bongo Ondimba, he first worked as a military attache at Gabon’s embassies in Morocco and Senegal.
In 2018, Gen Nguema was made intelligence chief under the elite republican guard — Gabon’s most powerful army unit — replacing Ali Bongo Ondimba’s half-brother Frederic Bongo, before getting promoted to general.
Meanwhile, Ali Bongo Ondimba appeared in a video at his home, calling on his “friends all over the world” to “make noise” on his behalf.
The coup has been condemned by the UN, the African Union and France, which had close ties to the Bongo family.
As in previous elections, the August 26 vote was also disputed, with the opposition saying it was fraudulent.
Main opposition candidate Albert Ondo Ossa complained that many polling stations had lacked ballot papers bearing his name, while the coalition he represented said the names of some of those who had withdrawn from the presidential race had still been on the ballot sheet.
Both of Bongo’s previous wins were disputed as fraudulent by opponents.
IANS