Togo has refused landing to a plane carrying a Nigerian team
sent to help resolve a constitutional crisis, a move that may
trigger sanctions against the West African state, a Nigerian
spokeswoman said.
The Nigerian delegation was heading to Togo as part of a
five-nation team from the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) to communicate its rejection of the installation of Faure
Gnassingbe as president in Togo.
"The authorities in Togo are frustrating efforts by ECOWAS to
resolve the crisis in the country," said Remi Oyo, spokeswoman to
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
"On Thursday evening the plane carrying the advance team of
President Obasanjo was refused landing in Lome," she added, calling
the action "unfriendly and hostile".
She said Nigeria has recalled its ambassador to Togo and that
Obasanjo - who is chairman of the African Union - will now not be
joining a delegation of ECOWAS heads of state expected in Togo's
capital Lome.
Gnassingbe was named president of Togo by the army on Saturday
(February 6) hours after his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema,
died.
West African leaders called at an emergency meeting the abrupt
transfer of power a coup and urged the nation to respect the
constitution as it was before it was hastily changed, threatening
not to recognise its new government.
They also threatened sanctions if Togo rejected the regional bloc's
demands.
"The latest action by Togo authorities might therefore compel the
commencement of sanctions," Oyo said.
The appointment of Gnassingbe flouted a constitutional rule stating
that the head of the national assembly should take over in the
event of the president's death, pending the organisation of
presidential elections in 60 days.
In a bid to hush foreign criticism, Togo's parliament changed the
law to retroactively legitimise Gnassingbe's nomination, clearing
the way for him to rule until 2008.
African presidents, former colonial power France, the European
Union and the United Nations have all urged Togo to respect the
constitution and let the Togolese people choose their new leader
through the ballot box.
The Francophonie, an organisation grouping French-speaking states,
suspended Togo for its "repeated violations" of the constitution's
provisions. The African Union (AU) has said it could punish Togo
with sanctions.
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