Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Sunday said coups will no longer be allowed in the West African region under his leadership as chairperson of the sub-regional bloc, ECOWAS.

“We will not allow coup after coup in the West African sub-region. We will take this up seriously with the African Union, European Union, America and Britain,” he said in his acceptance speech adding that “we will take it up, it is a challenge.”

Between August 2020 and now, five coups have occurred in three West African countries – Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea with attempts in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau foiled.

Nigeria’s neighbour to the North, Chad, had an unconstitutional change of government led by Lieutenant General Mahamat Idriss Déby after his father’s death in 2021.

Mr Tinubu noted that although democracy is very tough to manage, it is the best form of government and countries of the region should ascribe to it.

He takes over from the President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Embalo, who finished his tenure at the 63rd Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government on Sunday in Bissau, the capital city of Guinea-Bissau.

The summit is the first international engagement of President Tinubu on the African continent since his swearing-in on 29 May.