The recent military takeover in Guinea Bissau, according to former President Goodluck Jonathan, has caused him more suffering than his defeat by former President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 presidential election.
Speaking in a video interview that Saturday, Jonathan stated that the situation was especially concerning due of his long-standing role in bringing democracy back to the West African nation. As a member of the West African Elders Forum, the former president visited Guinea Bissau to observe the parliamentary and presidential elections.
The former president had travelled to Guinea Bissau as part of the West African Elders Forum to monitor the presidential and parliamentary elections.
But while observer missions from the African Union, Economic Community of West African States, and other bodies were still carrying out their duties, the military seized power.
The development left the former Bayelsa State governor and his team stranded and raised concerns over his safety.
Jonathan, who was later evacuated from Guinea Bissau and arrived in Nigeria on Thursday, said the incident unsettled him.
He said, “What happened in Guinea Bissau is quite disturbing to me, a person who believes in democracy. In fact, I feel more pain than the day I called Buhari to congratulate him when I lost the election as a sitting president.
“I have been quite particular about Guinea Bissau. As a sitting president then, Guinea Bissau was in crisis. It started around 2012. In 2011, we had to go physically and work with them and made sure that the 2013 elections were conducted.”
He described the situation in Guinea Bissau as bizarre, arguing that it did not fit the usual pattern of a military coup.
Jonathan said President Umaro Embaló’s early announcement of his own “arrest,” while still using his phone to speak to international media, raised questions about the credibility of the claim.
He described the situation in Guinea Bissau as bizarre, arguing that it did not fit the usual pattern of a military coup.
Jonathan said President Umaro Embaló’s early announcement of his own “arrest,” while still using his phone to speak to international media, raised questions about the credibility of the claim.
According to him, the Guinea Bissau elections were peaceful as he cited reports from ECOWAS, AU and other observer missions.
He expressed concern that while results were being collated, Embaló announced that a coup had taken place and that he had been detained, even though evidence suggested he was never arrested.
It is painful for me that President Embaló was the one announcing a military takeover of government. It is totally unacceptable.
“What happened in Guinea Bissau, I would not call it a coup; it was not a coup. For lack of a better word, I will say it was a ceremonial coup because it was President Embaló who announced the coup before the military later came up to address the world that they were in charge of government.
