Josephine Lohor, Nneoma Ukeje-Eloagu, Kunle Aderinokun
17 July 2003
Abuja — Soldiers toppled the government of tiny West African nation, Sao Tome and principe, yesterday while the president of the potentially oil-rich Island state, Fradique De Memezes was in Nigeria for talks.
The coup drew instant condemnation from the Federal Government which warned on the safety of Nigerians in the country following reports that troops have surrounded the Nigerian embassy in the capital.
The putsch also drew the ire of Presidents John Kufour of Ghana and Joachim Chisano of Mozambique who is also the African Union's chairman as well as other African leaders attending the presidential plenary session of the on-going Sixth Leon Howard Sullivan Summit, formerly the Africa-African America Summit holding in Abuja.
The coupists were equally flayed by oil companies involved in the on-going bidding for oil blocs in the country saying the incident would delay the licencing round scheduled to end in October this year.
Reports say machine gun fire crackled and grenades boomed around the capital of the former Portuguese colony at about 3 a.m. (0300 GMT), but the shooting did not last long. By morning light in the equatorial country, soldiers wielding machine guns patrolled the streets, having taken control of the television station, the airport and the central bank. Soldiers said they had detained Prime Minister Maria das Neves, who suffers from a heart condition, and other ministers including Public Works Minister Joaquim Rafael Branco.
It was not immediately clear why the military seized power in Africa's smallest independent state after the Seychelles, and residents of the capital ventured out in the relative calm.
Sao Tome has been shaken by political turmoil in recent months, partly because of wrangling over what may be billions of barrels of oil lying off its coast.
The apparent coup leader, Major Fernando Pereira, spoke on national radio yesterday calling on members of parliament and the government to gather at the police headquarters.
"He came on the radio saying he was commander-in-chief, and requested everyone to stay at home," said Carlos Tiny, a civil rights activist.
Portuguese news agency Lusa said Pereira was head of Sao Tome's military training centre. The armed forces in Sao Tome number about 900 troops.
Lusa said 15 out of 55 legislators had followed Pereira's orders and turned up at police headquarters. Parliament speaker Dionisio Dias had been arrested, along with four ministers. It said the Portuguese ambassador was due to meet the coup leaders at 1130 GMT in Sao Tome.
Arguments over oil revenues have fuelled political and social strife in recent months in Sao Tome, which has a population of about 170,000 and comprises several small islands off the coast of West Africa.
The Gulf of Guinea region has become increasingly important for oil-hungry countries like the United States, as it offers an alternative source to the volatile Middle East. The world's leading oil companies, including Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and Royal/Dutch Shell (SHEL.L) (RD.AS) are competing to exploit the reserves in a joint development zone with Nigeria.
De Menezes dissolved parliament in January partly because of a spat over who had the right to negotiate exploration contracts with oil companies.
Parliament later reconvened, but a row has since erupted over a payment the president says he received from an oil firm and used for campaigning, he says lawfully. His opponents have cried foul, although the company says it never paid the money anyway. De Menezes, a wealthy businessman, was elected in 2001. Opponents have accused him of receiving shadowy backing from Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer.
An official at Nigeria's presidency said De Menezes was in Abuja to attend a Nigeria-Sao Tome Development Zone meeting, and the Leon Sullivan Summit.
The Federal Government, while condemning the coup d'etat warned that it will act decisively once the lives of Nigerians in the country is threatened.
Describing the coup as a "violation of the democratic process," the Federal Government has called on the coupists to immediately return to the status quo ante, because their act is in violation of article 4 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU).
"The Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has received with shock and consternation the news of the coup d'etat in the sister state of Sao Tome and Principe. The government condemns unequivocally this violation of the democratic process. Needless to observe that the development is also a gross violation of article 4 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union.
"Nigeria is further alarmed at the news that its embassy in Sao Tome has been surrounded by armed troops and wishes to warn that any act of teror by the coupists that threatens the lives and properties of its staff and the Nigerian citizens resident in Sao Tome would be treated seriously and will evoke appropriate response.
"The Federal Government of Nigeria calls upon the coupists to immediately restore the democratically elected government of Sao Tome and Principe to power.
"It is in consultation with the leadership of the African Union for concerned response to this condemnable act in Sao Tome and Principe, which can only tarnish the image of our continent."
Condemning the coup while speaking at the Sullivan Summit, President Olusegun Obasanjo said that, "African leaders are determined to transform the continent for good," and acknowledged Africa as a continent of great opportunity despite some of the unfortunate situations some countries on the continent are currently faced with.
He said: "This is a land of great opportunity but here and there things happen to threaten the opportunities" he said, expressing support for the president of the oil rich island of Sao Tome and Principe with whom Nigeria enjoys a joint development agreement for oil exploration and production.
He advised the "military adventurers to call off the coup and hand over power to the democratically elected president".
Speaking in the same vein were presidents John Kuffuor of Ghana, Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso, Mathew Kerekou of the Republic of Benin and Abdullahi Wade of Senegal, all of who also spoke on the efforts for continued cooperation among African countries and development of the continent. The opinion enjoyed the support of the thirty-one heads, delegates and representatives of heads of governments present at the summit.
Also speaking on the development, Mozanbican President Joaquin Chisano, the African Union's chairman, appealed for a speedy return of "constitutional order."
Jolted by the coup plot, oil companies involved in the on-going bidding for oil blocs in the Gulf of Guinea said Wednesday's dawn coup would delay the licensing round.
Submission of bids for the award of nine oil blocs in the region under a Joint Development Zone (JDZ) being administered by Nigeria and Sao Tome, was to end by October this year.
But the companies in swift reaction to the military take over in Sao Tome, feared a prolonged delay of the process, which could translate to some financial losses.
"The primary consequence of the coup to us is that the licensing round will be delayed," said a senior official of Environmental Remediation Holding Corporation (ERHC), one of the firms jostling for acreages in the region.
The official said companies had gone far in preparing the bids for submission, and that the coup could force a fourth-time postponement of the licensing round. Other companies are ExxonMobil and Shell.
The licensing round was earlier scheduled for August last year but postponed to October and then last February, following disagreements between Nigerian government and its Sao Tomean counterpart.
Officials also feared that efforts to attract as many investors as possible to participate in the process, would surely suffer a set-back with the coup. The Joint Development Authority (JDA) only last month, held road shows in London and the United States to shore up interest from multinational investors in the bloc awards.
The JDA has however, tried to douse the anxiety over the effect of the coup on the bid process. A spokesman for the authority told THISDAY yesterday that the body was still watching events in Sao Tome.
He however, added that the bid process would progress as scheduled. "The coup thing is Sao Tome's affair and has nothing to do with the JDZ. Even today (yesterday), some companies still purchased bid packages," the official added.
Petroleum Ministry officials said they did not expect the new junta in Sao Tome to scuttle the oil bloc award based on the contractual agreement between the two countries. "The truth is that Nigeria can do without that area in terms of oil search. Our own continental shelf is there and very busy," said a ministry source.
Oil production from the zone is expected to start in 2006. The award of the oil licenses scheduled for end of this year, is expected to fetch a minimum revenue of $270 million, where Sao Tome will receive 40 percent of the income and Nigeria, 60 per cent.
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