JONATHAN DISMISSES GUINEA-BISSAU POWER TAKEOVER AS ‘CEREMONIAL COUP’, QUESTIONS PRESIDENT’S ROLE IN CRISIS
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Former President Goodluck Jonathan has dismissed the recent military power seizure in Guinea-Bissau as “not a coup,” describing it instead as “maybe a ceremonial coup,” and expressing shock over the manner in which the events unfolded.
Gunfire erupted around key government institutions in Bissau on Wednesday, with soldiers claiming “total control” of the country. President Umaro Sissoco Embaló later said he had been arrested in his office at the presidential palace, prompting panic as the military imposed a nationwide curfew, suspended elections, shut borders and detained senior government officials.
Jonathan, who was in Guinea-Bissau as head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission, was evacuated by a special flight, a move confirmed by the Federal Government, which also condemned the development as a threat to democracy and regional stability.
In an interview with Symfoni posted on YouTube on Friday, Jonathan said he decided to speak publicly to thank Nigerians for their concern and to clarify the situation.
“I wouldn’t call it a coup. It was not a coup. I would just say, for want of a better word, maybe it was a ceremonial coup,” he said.
He noted that Embaló announced his own arrest to the world before the military made any official declaration.
“It is the president, President Embaló, who announced the coup. Then the military men came up to address the world… 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,” Jonathan stated.
Comparing the incident with previous coups in Africa, he questioned the credibility of the situation.
“The military doesn’t take over governments, and the sitting president they overthrew would be allowed to be addressing press conferences and announcing that he has been arrested. Why does this happen? Who is fooling whom?” he queried.
The former president, who has served as ECOWAS mediator in Mali and overseen elections across West Africa, expressed concern over the delay in announcing election results and urged regional bodies to enforce democratic norms.
“They have the results because AU and ECOWAS officials were in all the regions when the results were collated. They should tally all those results and announce them… Let the world know who won that election,” he said.
Jonathan referenced his experience as ECOWAS Chair during Côte d’Ivoire’s 2010 presidential crisis, where he insisted that election winner Alassane Ouattara be sworn in despite resistance from then-President Laurent Gbagbo.
“I stood my ground as the Chair… and Ouattara was sworn in,” he recalled.
The former president stressed the importance of respecting electoral outcomes, adding that the situation in Guinea-Bissau is “quite disturbing to those of us who believe in democracy.”
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