The leaders of the coup in Gabon on Wednesday named Republican Guard chief General Brice Oligui Nguema transitional president, according to a TV statement, after the military seized control in the wake of elections.

"General Oligui Nguema Brice was unanimously appointed chairman of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions, chairman of the transition," declared an officer in the presence of dozens of senior officers, according to the press release read out on Gabon 24.