The Federal government yesterday joined in the facilitation of the quick
\nrestoration of civilian rule in Burkina Faso a day after President
\nMuhammadu Buhari hosted an Extraordinary session of ECOWAS Authority of
\nHeads of State and Governments in Abuja, where the decision was taken to
\nensure the termination of last week\u2019s military coup in the West African
\nnation.<\/p>\n
Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, who represented President Buhari
\nyesterday in Ouagadougou, among the select group of West African leaders
\nwho were in the Burkinabe\u00a0 capital said the leaders were there \u201cto convey
\nthe recommendations agreed by ECOWAS leaders in Abuja, and we have
\nwitnessed the reinstatement of President Michel Kafando as the Transition
\nPresident of Burkina Faso.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking with reporters in the capital city after series of consultations,
\nmeetings and a formal restoration of power ceremony, Osinbajo stated that
\nthe restoration of civilian authority in Burkina Faso after last week
\nmilitary coup conducted by the country\u2019s presidential guards (known as the
\nPresidential Security Regiment or RSP) \u201cis a very good sign, a positive
\nthing,\u201d observing that ECOWAS played a significant role in the process
\nthat made the restoration possible.<\/p>\n
According to him, \u201cas you know President Kafando had been detained by the
\nRSP, -the presidential guard-but they have now stepped down as you can
\nsee, and they are now part of the process to ensure that the transition
\ngoes on.\u201d He continued: \u201cwhat we have seen today is how ECOWAS states came
\ntogether basically to agree and see to it that President Kafando was
\nreinstated and now that has been accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n
Praising the leaders of ECOWAS including President Buhari, President Boni
\nYayi of Benin, and the current Chairman of ECOWAS, President Macky Sall of
\nSenegal alongside all the leaders in the West African region, the Vice
\nPresident said \u201cnow we are all looking at how to advance the transition
\nprocess here in Burkina Faso.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said while there are still difficult issues to be resolved as fallouts
\nof the coup crisis, it is clear that progress will continue judging from
\nthe fact that the people are determined, all the groups involved are now
\nengaged in the process and are cooperating.<\/p>\n
Prof. Osinbajo reiterated Nigeria\u2019s continued brotherly support for
\nBurkina Faso, while also commending the international community for coming
\ntogether to condemn the coup.<\/p>\n
According to him,\u201dI think it is very clear going by the ECOWAS
\nSupplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and the legal
\ninstruments of the African Union, that coups are no longer fashionable and
\nno longer acceptable. In fact, it punishable to take power by force. As
\nsoon as this coup took place, the entire ECOWAS, AU and the entire
\ninternational community rose with one voice against it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Tuesday\u2019s summit in Abuja hosted by President Buhari, ECOWAS
\nselected a group of six leaders one each from Nigeria, Benin, Senegal,
\nTogo, Niger and Ghana to visit Ouagadougou and proffer the recommendations
\nof the West African nations towards solving the disruption of civil
\ntransition programme in Burkina Faso.<\/p>\n
President Yayi of Benin was named as facilitator, while Nigeria was
\nrepresented by the Vice President. In what included series of talks and
\nevents all day Wednesday, leaders from the six West African nations met
\nwith the RSP, Burkina Faso military and civil leaders and presided over
\nthe formal ceremony to effect the restoration of power from the
\npresidential guards led by General Gilbert Deirdre.<\/p>\n
On his arrival yesterday morning-September 23- in the Burkinabe capital,
\nNigeria\u2019s Vice President, Prof. Osinbajo was received at the Ouagadougou
\nAirport by General Deirde, while he was escorted back on return through
\nthe same airport by the restored Transition President Kafando. The VP
\nreturned to Nigeria last night- Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Federal government yesterday joined in the facilitation of the quick restoration of civilian rule in Burkina Faso a day after President Muhammadu Buhari hosted an Extraordinary session of ECOWAS…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n