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Former President Goodluck Jonathan arrived safely back in Nigeria, accompanied by the Heads of the African Union Election Observation Mission, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Election Observation Mission, and the West African Elders Forum, yesterday. He expressed concern over the coup d’etat by the armed forces of Guinea-Bissau.
This came as the Nigerian Government condemned the military coup in the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, describing it as an unconstitutional change of government that threatens stability in the West African region.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, joined other Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS, in an extraordinary virtual summit convened to address the political crisis in Guinea-Bissau, following the Wednesday’s coup.
The Guinea-Bissau has, meanwhile, named and sworn in an Army General, Horta N’Tam, as the transitional head of State for one year. N’Tam, until the coup, was head of the presidential guard.
Jonathan, who was in Guinea-Bissau as part of a joint election observer mission deployed by the African Union, AU, ECOWAS, and WAEF, was initially trapped in the country after the military announced the closure of all land, air and sea borders and an overnight curfew after the government take over.
Nigeria’s House of Representatives, had earlier, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to take immediate diplomatic action to secure the safe return of former President Jonathan.
The military takeover occurred after both incumbent President, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, and opposition candidate, Fernando Dias, declared themselves winners of Sunday’s presidential election, even though official results had not been released. The result of the election was due to be announced, yesterday.
The heads of the missions and forum in a statement by Filipe Nyusi, former President of Mozambique, Issifu Kamara, and former President Jonathan, respectively, noted the orderly and peaceful conclusion of the voting process for the presidential and legislative elections and decried the disruption of the process by the military.
“We commend the people of Guinea-Bissau for their strong civic engagement, and professionalism demonstrated by polling staff, security personnel, presidential candidates’ and party agents, throughout the voting process.
“Despite these encouraging developments, we express deep concern with the announcement of a coup d’etat by the armed forces, while the nation was waiting for the announcement of the results.
“It is regrettable that this announcement came at a time when the missions had just concluded a meeting with the two leading presidential candidates, who assured us of their willingness to accept the will of the people.
“We deplore this blatant attempt to disrupt the democratic process and the gains that have been achieved thus far,” they said.
They asked the African Union and the ECOWAS to take the necessary steps to restore constitutional order in the country.
They further expressed concerns over the arrests of top officials including those who were in charge of the electoral process, urging the armed forces to immediately release the detained officials.
