Former lawmaker and prominent social critic, Senator Shehu Sani, has expressed his belief that the decline of democracy in Africa can be attributed to tainted elections.

This viewpoint from Sani emerges in the aftermath of a coup in the Central African nation.

Recent reports from Vistanaij Media have highlighted that military officials in Gabon took control of the government following President Ali Bongo’s third term re-election. According to the BBC, senior military figures made this announcement on national television during Tuesday.

These officers reportedly declared the nullification of the results of the election held on Saturday, which the opposition had rejected as being “fraudulent.”

However, Senator Shehu Sani took to his social media platform X to voice his perspective. He laid blame on the Bongo family for exerting control and undermining the democratic process in Gabon.

He wrote, “A BBC correspondent just reported people in Gabon are “genuinely” trooping out to the streets in support of the Coup in Libreville. The Bongo family dominated and destroyed Democracy. Democracy dies in Africa when elections are poisoned.”