The Commonwealth on Wednesday voiced fears about a military coup in Gabon, which joined the grouping last year, and said it was monitoring the situation closely.
Secretary general Patricia Scotland said the situation was “deeply concerning”, adding: “The Commonwealth Charter is clear that member states must uphold the rule of law and the principles of democracy at all times”.
This comes just hours after a group of Gabonese military commanders said on television that they were “putting an end to the current regime” and calling off Ondimba’s election.
AFP correspondents heard gunshots during the announcement in Gabon’s capital, Libreville.
One of the officers stated that “all the institutions of the republic” had been dissolved while announcing the revocation of the voting results.
An officer read the address, who was surrounded by a dozen army colonels, members of the elite Republican Guard, regular soldiers, and others.
It happened just moments after the national election authority announced that Bongo had won a third term with 64.27 percent of the vote in Saturday’s poll.