Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjoon Saturday hailed the announcement by Togo's new leader Faure Gnassingbe to step down ahead of elections as a victory for Africa.

In his regular radio show "The President Explains," Obasanjo said Gnassingbe "has been briefing me on an almost daily basis and last night he talked to me before he made his announcement ... that he is stepping down."

Obasanjo, who is also current chairman of the African Union (AU), said if Togo's new leader made the decision earlier, he would have visited Togo, a move suggested by the Togolese authorities earlier to find a way out of the three-week long Togo crisis.

Gnassingbe was installed as the new president of Togo by the military just hours after his father late president Gnassingbe Eyadema died of heart attack three weeks ago, which is widely recognized as a "coup d'etat" and a breach of the country's democratic constitution.

Following the "coup," both the AU and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have imposed sanctions on Togo with a view to forcing the tiny west African country to return to constitutional rule.

On Friday, Gnassingbe announced in a televised speech that he would step aside to allow a newly elected speaker of the national assembly, Abass Bonfoh, to organize elections as interim leader.

According to Obasanjo, ECOWAS Chairman and Nigerien President Mamadou Tandja has invited him to come to the Togolese capital Lome on Monday to meet the Togolese authorities.

Source: Xinhua