Nigerian former President Goodluck Jonathan has raised questions about the recent coup in Guinea-Bissau, saying that it was strange that the ousted president, Umaro Embalo, announced the military takeover.
Jonathan, who led an ECOWAS observer team to the country’s election last week, said what happened in the West African country was merely a “ceremonial” coup.
“What happened in Guinea-Bissau, I wouldn’t call it a coup. It was not a coup. For want of a better word, I would say maybe because it was a ceremonial coup, because it is the president, President Embalo, who announced the coup before, later, the military man came up to address the world that they were in charge of everywhere.
“Embalo had already announced the coup, which is strange, not only announcing the coup, but Embalo, while the coup took place, was using his phone and addressing media organisations across the world that he had been arrested,” he said in an interview.
The former Bayelsa Governor also said what happened in Guinea-Bissau was quite disturbing to him, as a person who believes in democracy.
“I’m a Nigerian close to 70, and I know how they keep heads of state when a coup takes place. Recently, I was a mediator in Mali, [an] ECOWAS mediator in Mali and within that period, we had a military coup.
“The military doesn’t take over governments, and the sitting president that they overthrew will be allowed to be addressing press conferences and announcing that he has been arrested. Who is fooling who?
“In fact, I feel more pained than the day I called [former President Muhammadu] Buhari to congratulate him when I lost the election as a sitting president,” he added.
Jonathan described the Guinea-Bissau elections as peaceful and called for the release of the results.
“The elections were done peacefully. We were in the field. I was a part of the West African Elders Forum. Normally, we are not core observers, so we didn’t deploy observation teams across what we observed within the south, the capital and the neighbouring settlements.
“But during the meeting of all heads of observation missions, and all the observers gave their accounts, nobody gave something different. The elections were peaceful, the counting of results at the polling units [was] peacefully done — the conduct of the electoral officials, the security, the party agents, the voters.
“It was a good election, and one expected the results to be announced.
“And when they were almost through, and we’re all waiting for the result to be announced, then Embalo announced that there was a coup, that they had taken over, and they had arrested him.
“But from all indications, nobody arrested him. My conviction is that, and my charge to ECOWAS and AU is that they must announce that result,” he said.
Guinea-Bissau military officers took “total control” of the country on Wednesday, suspending the nation’s electoral process and closing its borders, days after presidential and legislative elections.
Following the coup, the head of the presidential military office, General Denis N’Canha, said a command “composed of all branches of the armed forces, was taking over the leadership of the country until further notice”.
The officers arrested President Embalo, who had been favoured to win Sunday’s election, though he left for Senegal.
A day after the coup, the military named the chief of staff of the army, General Horta N’Tam, as the country’s new leader for one year.
