Former President Goodluck Jonathan has described the military intervention in Guinea-Bissau as a ceremonial coup, insisting that the election results be formally announced.
Jonathan visited Guinea-Bissau as head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission to monitor the country’s presidential and legislative elections, which were held on Sunday, November 23.
On Monday, November 24, both President Umaro Embaló, seeking re-election, and his main challenger, Fernando Dias, claimed victory despite the electoral commission not having released official results. Both sides maintained that their candidates had surpassed the 50 percent threshold required to win outright.
Soon after, soldiers took control of key government institutions, suspended the electoral process, and declared they would administer the state until further notice. This followed earlier claims by the government that it had prevented a coup attempt ahead of the elections.
Deputy Chief of Staff Mamadu Ture accused Brigadier-General Daba Nawalna, head of a military training center, of orchestrating the alleged plot. Embaló later reported that he had been arrested in his office at the presidential palace, describing the event as a coup but stating that no force was used.
The takeover left Jonathan and other election observers stranded until night of Thursday, November 27, when the former president was evacuated and returned to Nigeria.
Speaking in Abuja on Friday, Jonathan questioned the legitimacy of Embaló’s claims, saying no military takeover allows a sitting head of state to freely communicate with the media while supposedly in custody. He noted his longstanding involvement with Guinea-Bissau’s political stability as Nigeria’s former president and former chairman of ECOWAS.
Jonathan said he would not classify the incident as a traditional coup.
“Specifically, what happened in Guinea-Bissau was not a coup; maybe, for want of a better word, I would say it was a ceremonial coup. It is the president, President Umaro Embaló, that announced the coup,” he said.
“Before later, a military man came up to address the world that they were in charge of everywhere. Embaló had already announced the coup, which is strange.
“Not only announcing the coup, but Embaló, while the coup took place, was using his phone and addressing media organisations across the world that he had been arrested.
“I’m a Nigerian, and I know how heads of state are treated when there’s a coup.
“Who is fooling who? Basically, what happened in Guinea-Bissau is quite disturbing to me, who believes in democracy.
“I feel more pained than the day I called Buhari to congratulate him when I lost as a sitting president.”
Jonathan also described the sudden suspension of the electoral process as a dangerous return to what he called the dark days between 2011 and 2014. He praised the election itself as peaceful, well conducted and properly supervised, noting that results from all nine regions had been collated and were ready for declaration when Embaló announced the coup.
He urged ECOWAS and the African Union to release the results promptly, emphasizing that the collated data should not be altered.
“They have the results because AU and ECOWAS officials were at all the regions when the results were collated. They cannot change those results. They should tally all those results and announce. They cannot force the military out.
“They must announce, let the world know who won that election. Let the world know who won that election. And they owe the world that responsibility.”
Jonathan criticized Embaló’s actions, stating that it was troubling for a former ECOWAS chair and retired senior military officer to be linked to an event that disrupted the election.
“He should be the person that can prevent any coup in Guinea-Bissau. I don’t expect a coup that would remove him from office,” he said.
He also called for the immediate release of Fernando Dias, who remains in custody, stressing that the opposition candidate has not committed any offence.
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