Presidency highlights Buhari’s concerns over military coups in Africa

The Presidency on Wednesday detailed the concerns of President Muhammadu Buhari over military coups being experienced in some African countries, making an appeal to the European Union and the rest of the World to tackle this scourge.

This was contained in a statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity) titled, “A look at Takeaways from President Buhari’s visit to Belgium.”

According to Shehu, “President Buhari called for weighty sanctions for unconstitutional leadership changes. In noting that the African Union has often responded to these challenges, isolating such regimes and imposing sanctions, the President made an appeal to the EU and the rest of the World to go beyond the condemnation of coups, to impose weighty sanctions on countries that engage in unconstitutional change of governments, as well as manipulation of constitutions in favour of term limits.

“Another important message from the Present is that while Nigeria, in particular, is defending democratic principles and institutions within the framework of ECOWAS and the AU; ensuring security in the sub-region and containing the spread of terrorist organisations, the efforts required and resources needed are weighty and the time has come for EU and other global partners to get more involved.

“The meeting in Belgium was expected to be a show of friendship, camaraderie, and equality between the two continents, and with what we have seen from its outcomes, EU-Africa Summit will be gaining gravitas.”

President Buhari had travelled to Brussels for the 6th European Union-African Union Summit in Brussels, Belgium.

The Summit was held on February 17 – 18, 2022, and the participants deliberated on themes currently affecting the world.