Former President Goodluck Jonathan has dismissed reports of a full-scale military coup in Guinea-Bissau, insisting that authorities should proceed with announcing the results of Sunday’s elections.
His comments come after a group of military officers identifying themselves as the “High Military Command for the Restoration of Order” claimed they had assumed “total control” of the country.
The officers declared an immediate suspension of the electoral process “until further notice,” ordered the shutdown of all borders, and imposed a nighttime curfew.
Their announcement followed a tense standoff in which both incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and opposition candidate Fernando Dias separately claimed victory.
Embalo, speaking to France24 by phone, said, “I have been deposed,” adding that he was being held at the military’s general staff headquarters.
Jonathan, who had led a joint foreign observer mission to monitor the elections, was among several individuals stranded when the crisis erupted. He was later evacuated from Guinea-Bissau and returned to Nigeria on Thursday.
Speaking to journalists on Friday, Jonathan recounted his experience and cast doubt on assertions that the military had staged a genuine coup.
He suggested that emerging developments pointed to an internal political struggle, hinting that President Embalo “did not want to leave power.”
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“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 mean, I’m a Nigerian close to 70 years, and I know how they keep heads of state when a coup takes place.
“Recently, I was a mediator in Mali, and within that period, we had a military coup. Militaries don’t take over government and the sitting president that they overthrow would be allowed to be addressing press conferences and announcing that they are being arrested.
“Who is fooling who? Basically, what happened in Guinea-Bissau is quite disturbing to me, who believes in democracy. In fact, I feel more pains than the day I called Buhari to congratulate him when I lost the election.”
Jonathan said results from all nine regions had been collated and were ready for final declaration when Embaló suddenly announced a coup.
He also called on ECOWAS and the African Union (AU) to make public the results as a matter of democratic integrity.
“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,” Jonathan said.
“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. And they owe the world that responsibility.”
Jonathan said it was disturbing that Embaalo, a former ECOWAS chairman and retired military officer, could be linked with 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.
