ABUJA, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government has condemned the military takeover in Egypt, saying that the unfortunate development is a gross violation of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, which prohibits unconstitutional change of government.
The government called on the Egyptian Armed Forces to allow the democratic culture to thrive in the country.
The Egypt's military, on Wednesday, ousted President Mohammed Morsi from office, replacing him with the head of the country's constitutional court.
Reacting to the military action in a three strong worded paragraph press statement, Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru, Minister of Foreign Affairs, on Friday said the action "is a truncation of the aspirations of the Egyptian people to freely express themselves through the ballot box."
"The unfortunate development is a gross violation of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, which prohibits unconstitutional change of government," he said.
"It constitutes a serious setback of the remarkable progress which Africa has made in fostering the culture of democratic governance in the continent," he added.
"Nigeria calls for immediate restoration of democratic order in Egypt. Nigeria also calls on the Egyptian people to exercise utmost restraint in the peaceful pursuit of their legitimate grievances," the minister said.
