Gabon President Ali Bongo has "been placed in retirement," the head of his presidential guard told Le Monde newspaper on Wednesday after rebel officers said they had toppled him.
Asked why Bongo had been toppled, he told the newspaper: "There was discontent in Gabon and beyond this discontent there was the head of state's illness. Everyone is talking about it, but no one was doing anything about it.
"He had no right to do a third term. The constitution had been trampled on. The electoral process was not the right one. So the army decided to turn the page and do something."
Call for help
Earlier the deposed president called on the world for help hours after he was put under house arrest by soldiers who staged a coup early on Wednesday. The move came after he was declared the winner of national elections.
Bongo called on "friends" of Gabon "all over the world" to “make noise”, saying he was speaking from detention in his residence after members of his presidential guard staged a coup.
Bongo appeared seated in a chair in an unverified video that has been widely circulated on social media. It is his first public appearance since soldiers announced on state television that they were “ending his regime”.
Bongo said he was at his residence and that his wife and son were in different places.
Election voided
His ouster took place just minutes after Bongo was declared the winner of national elections.
Military officials announced the dissolution of “all the institutions of the republic”, the closure of Gabon’s borders after noting what they called irresponsible and unpredictable governance.
"To this end, the general elections of 26 August 2023 and the truncated results are cancelled," one of the soldiers said.
Gabon’s electoral commission earlier said Bongo, who has been in power for 14 years, had won a third term after winning 64.27 percent of votes cast.
Bongo and main rival Ondo Ossa led a race of 14 candidates vying for the top job in presidential, parliamentary and legislative elections held on Saturday.
House arrest
Military officers said Bongo was under house arrest "surrounded by his family and doctors", while one of his sons had been arrested for treason.
The soldiers say their actions are on behalf of the central African nation’s entire security and defence forces.
The head of Gabon's presidential guard, Brice Oligui Nguema, was carried triumphantly by hundreds of soldiers in footage that was played on a loop.
Some of the soldiers were shouting "Oligui president".
Meanwhile crowds were seen celebrating and singing the national anthem in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, and the biggest city, Port-Gentil.
Reaction
French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said Paris was following the situation in Gabon very closely, said as she addressed a meeting of ambassadors in the French capital.
Meanwhile China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called for "all sides" to guarantee Bongo's safety, adding: "China is closely following the developing situation."
French oil giant TotalEnergies said in a press release that its top priority was to "ensure the safety of its employees and its operations" in Gabon.
The group has 350 staff in Gabon and is the country's main distributor of petroleum products.
Fears of unrest
There had been fears of unrest after the polls in which Bongo was seeking to extend his family's 56-year grip on power.
The country has not known much democracy since its independence from France on 17 August 1960.
Gabon is considered one of the richest countries in Africa because of its large per capita GDP, due chiefly to its oil revenue and relatively small population of 2.3 million.
However, a third of the population still live below the poverty threshold, according to the World Bank.
