Former President Goodluck Jonathan has stated that the recent military takeover in Guinea-Bissau is more distressing for him than his loss to former President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 presidential election.
Jonathan, speaking in a video interview obtained by Chronicle NG, said the incident was especially alarming given his long-standing involvement in restoring democracy in the West African country.
The former president had been to Guinea-Bissau as a member of the West African Elders Forum to observe the presidential and legislative elections.
However, while observer missions from the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, and other organizations were still performing their roles, the military took control.
The development left the former Bayelsa State governor and his staff stranded, raising concerns about his safety.
Jonathan, who was later removed from Guinea-Bissau and landed in Nigeria on Thursday, said the incident made him uneasy.
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 make sure that the 2013 elections were conducted.”
He regarded the situation in Guinea-Bissau as odd, claiming that it did not follow the typical pattern of a military coup.
Jonathan questioned President Umaro Embaló’s early announcement of his own “arrest,” while still utilizing his phone to speak with worldwide media.
According to him, the Guinea-Bissau elections were calm, citing reports from ECOWAS, the AU, and other observer teams.
He expressed worry that, while the results were being compiled, Embaló announced that a coup had occurred and that he had been held, despite evidence indicating that he had never been 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 the government.
“Embaló had already announced that there was a coup, which is strange. Not only announcing the coup, but Embaló, while the coup took place, was using his phone and addressing media organizations across the world, saying that he had been arrested. I’m a Nigerian close to 70, and I know how they keep heads of state when a coup takes place.
“They cannot be playing pranks; nobody should call others fools. There is no way there will be a military coup at a time they were about to announce election results and the president was the person who announced the coup. It doesn’t happen anywhere,” Jonathan said.
The former president recommended against using the military to regain power and urged ECOWAS and the AU to publicize the complete election results.
Jonathan also advocated for the release of Fernando Dias, the primary opposition leader, from military custody, claiming that he had committed no crime.
