There’s No Coup In Guinea-Bissau, Election Result Must Be Announced — Jonathan Tells AU, ECOWAS
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has dismissed claims of a coup in Guinea-Bissau, insisting that the events that unfolded in the country were politically motivated and not a military takeover.
Jonathan, who was part of the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission, stated this while addressing journalists shortly after he arrived safely in Nigeria following days of being stuck in Bissau.
According to him, the narrative of a coup was instigated by President Umaro Embaló, who personally contacted several international media organisations during the tense hours to claim he had been arrested by the military. Jonathan described the situation as suspicious and inconsistent with the realities of an actual coup.
“What happened in Guinea-Bissau wasn’t a coup. The President, Umaro Embaló, was the one who announced the coup before a military officer later came out to address the world. While it was happening, he was the one using his phones to call media organisations across the world to say there was a coup and that he had been arrested,” he said.
The former Nigerian leader questioned the credibility of such claims, drawing from his personal experiences mediating political transitions in the region. “I’m a Nigerian, and I know how heads of state are treated during real coups. I was a mediator in Mali when a coup occurred, and I can tell you that no military that has just overthrown a president would allow him to be holding press conferences or announcing his own arrest.”
He said the turn of events posed a direct threat to democracy in Guinea-Bissau, noting that the election he and other observers came to oversee was conducted peacefully, from voting to counting, with no report of irregularities during the joint briefing of all observer missions.
“It was a good election. Everything was peaceful — the conduct of voters, security agencies, party agents, and the counting process. Everyone expected the results to be announced. It was at the point the results were ready for declaration that President Embaló suddenly announced there was a coup. From all indications, nobody arrested him,” he maintained.
Calling on regional bodies to act decisively, Jonathan urged ECOWAS and the African Union to ensure the official election results are made public. “My clear charge to ECOWAS and the AU is that they must announce the results. The results were ready, and the people deserve to know the outcome.”
Jonathan also expressed deep gratitude to Nigerians for their concern and prayers during the uncertainty of his stay in Bissau. He extended appreciation to President Bola Tinubu and Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara for quickly deploying aircraft to facilitate his evacuation.
He described the situation as even more painful than the day he phoned former President Muhammadu Buhari to concede defeat in 2015, lamenting that Guinea-Bissau appeared to be slipping back into an era where “militants do as they like.”
OSUN DEFENDER reports that ex-President Jonathan had travelled to Guinea-Bissau as part of ECOWAS efforts to monitor the electoral process before the sudden turn of events left him and other officials stranded.
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Hafsoh Isiaq is a graduate of Linguistics. An avid writer committed to creative, high-quality research and news reportage. She has considerable experience in writing and reporting across a variety of platforms including print and online.
