Leadership (Abuja)
Golu Timothy, Raliat Ahmed and Nwakpa O. Nwakpa
6 January 2009
Abuja — In an emergency meeting of Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) scheduled for Friday, the suspension of Guinea will be announced to emphasise to the new military junta the regional body's zero tolerance for military coups.
The meeting which is to hold in Abuja is at the instance of the Chairman of ECOWAS, and Nigeria's president, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.
Also, the Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, Mohammed Ibn Chambas and is expected to brief leaders of the sub-region on the development in the country.
According to the minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, the meeting is to enable leaders in the sub-region to discuss the military takeover in that country.
Maduekwe who spoke to State House correspondents yesterday said that the regional body has called for an extra ordinary meeting to review the situation in Guinea and also the suspension placed on it by the African Union.
According to Maduekwe, "We are monitoring the Guinea thing as you know we sent a delegation which included my colleague Ambassador Hirse the Minister of State II and former President Ibrahim Babangida and we had conveyed our message clearly as federal government of Nigeria and as a current chair of ECOWAS that this coup is unacceptable. The junta should regrettably have to admit that somebody will have to conduct elections. So all they are supposed to do if there is no civil authority to conduct the elections then these people who have moved in through a non-democratic process should just conduct elections and get out of town."
He also noted that the suspension of Guinea from ECOWAS will be announced during the meeting to be chaired by President Yar'Adua on Friday.
On the country's stand, Maduekwe said, " Nigeria has no business with that government in terms of formal recognition, in terms of formal relationship as a government, absolutely nothing. And we know that ECOWAS officially go in the same direction. Look, we cannot have double standards on this issue. I called for sanctions on Mauritania on the emergence of UN council and my other colleagues foreign ministers agreed to that and when we came to the last AU meeting, I just returned from that two weeks ago in Addis Ababa where we went to discuss DRC that decision on the emergence of UN for sanctions on Mauritania was upheld. You can't be calling for sanctions on Mauritania and then you are embracing government of Guinea . We fully recognise the fact that all the cases may not be the same. So it is only for that reason as a matter of real politics for pragmatic reasons that you need one month, two, three months to conduct elections, go ahead and conduct but even the process of election does not mean we are going to engage them as government. They will remain suspended."
He also reiterated the sub-region stand that the proposed two-year period is not acceptable. "No absolutely not acceptable," he said. We are looking at time frame that is just enough to conduct elections and get out. If it requires two weeks let them conduct the elections and get out.'
Maduekwe also described as unfortunate the recognition accorded the junta by the Senegalese government.
"It is unfortunate, it is to be condemned. I will not pre-empt what the summit will decide. I mean presidents have a way of talking to each other. But speaking purely as foreign minister of Nigeria, it will be a sad day for the democratic consolidation of Africa if governments that are party to the Constitutive Act and the Charter Declaration that governments in Africa that are not there by result of democratic process should not be recognised... So if any member of AU that is of course a legitimate government steps outside the ranks of other members to now fraternise with the military junta, I'm sure the collective wisdom of the leadership of AU will find a way of even sanctioning that government because for us the issue of undermining the democratic process is not just when a group of adventurers organised a coup and overthrow a democratically elected government. If democratically elected government is giving succour, providing encouragement and giving a signal that that is acceptable, then such a government is guilty by complicity. I believe there must be capacity within the AU to also call that country to order. You know Africa has lost a lot as a result of this zig zag and as a result of not working the full path," he said.
Meanwhile, after series of pressure from the international community over the seizure of power by the army in Guinea, the leader of the junta, Moussa Daddis Camara, yesterday promised to hold elections in 2009 - a year earlier than previously announced, a senior French official said.
According to French Secretary of State for Co-operation , Camara who was very clear in accepting the period of 12 months also pledged not to stand in those polls.
"We are satisfied that in 2009 Guinea will have a new parliament and a new elected president," he said.
Moussa Dadis Camara and allies last month seized power after the death of long-serving president Lansana Conte, but the move has been widely criticised.
It would be recalled that Capt Camara previously said he would organise elections by the end of 2010 - when the late President Conte's term of office would have expired.
The African Union has suspended Guinea because of the military intervention until the return of constitutional order in thecountry Also the move by the military junta has been strongly condemned by Western donors.
Some Western countries had called for elections within six months but some analysts said this might not be realistic, as voter lists were not ready.
France pledged it would continue with financial aid to the electoral commission, notably in the area of voter registration, which has stalled because of lack of money.
But many people in Guinea backed the move, which follows many years of economic stagnation and political repression under Mr Conte.
African Union decided not to apply sanctions and said it would work closely with the coup plotters, to try to bring Guinea back to constitutionality.
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