Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said the reported coup d’etat in Benin Republic yesterday is an assault on constitutional order. Atiku in a statement, said the era of military interference in governance is long over in Africa and the West Africa sub-region.

He said: “It is concerning that these coups are happening around election times in the affected countries.” Apart from Benin, there was military intervention in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea-Bissau.

The former vice president said such trend is “utterly unacceptable,” and described as worrisome, the proximity of these coup and the election in those countries.

He said: “The Benin presidential election is scheduled for April 2026 while the purported military take over in Guinea-Bissau happened on the eve of the expected announcement of the results of that country’s poll. “It raises fears that some political operators may be using the military to cancel the democratic processes.”

According to him, this trend is dangerous for the health of democracy in the West African sub-region and must be stopped before it becomes the rule and not the exception.

He said: “Soldiers have no business anywhere outside their barracks, and every decisive measure must be taken to crush any emerging appetite for subverting democracy.”