Nigeria Government Rejects The Removal Of Democratically Elected Egyptian President.

Former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi

The Nigerian government has condemned the removal of Egypt’s democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, by the country’s military, saying it viewed the development as well as the suspension of the constitution with grave concern.

It therefore called for the immediate restoration of constitutional rule in the country.

 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Thursday the development is “a truncation of the aspirations of the Egyptian people to freely express themselves through the ballot box.”

The statement added, “This unfortunate development is a gross violation of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, which prohibits unconstitutional change of government. It constitutes a serious setback to the remarkable progress which Africa has made in fostering the culture of democratic governance in the continent.

“Nigeria calls for the immediate restoration of the democracy order in Egypt and urges the Egyptian Armed Forces to allow the democratic culture to thrive in the country.”

Following Morsi’s ouster, Adly Mahmud Mansour,  the top judge of Egypt’s Constitutional Court, , was on Thursday sworn in as interim leader.