Former President Goodluck Jonathan has insisted that the recent military takeover in Guinea-Bissau did not amount to a coup, emphasising that the country’s election results must be made public.
Jonathan, who led the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission during the incident, said the episode was even more painful for him than conceding defeat to the late Muhammadu Buhari in Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election.
Jonathan had returned to Nigeria aboard an Ivorian aircraft amid rising concerns for his safety. Speaking in an interview with Symfoni on Friday, he described the military intervention in Guinea-Bissau as “a ceremonial coup.”
The former president said: “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.
“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.”
Recounting how the situation unfolded, Jonathan noted: “When they were almost through and we were all waiting for the results to be announced, then Embaló announced that there was a coup, that they had taken over, they had arrested him.”
He further maintained that events on the ground did not suggest the president had been detained. “But from all indications, nobody arrested him. My conviction is that — and my charge to ECOWAS and AU is that — they must announce the results.
“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 also called for the release of opposition candidate Fernando Dias, stressing that Dias had “not committed any offence.”
