Former President Goodluck Jonathan has described the recent military takeover in Guinea Bissau as more painful than his 2015 presidential election defeat to former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Jonathan spoke in a video interview viewed by Online tribune.
Jonathan, who traveled to Guinea Bissau as part of the West African Elders Forum to observe the presidential and parliamentary elections, was stranded in the country along with other observers after the military announced a coup and full control of the West African country.
Speaking about why he was concerned about the situation, Jonathan 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 acting president.
“I have been quite demanding about Guinea Bissau. As the sitting president then, Guinea Bissau was in crisis. It started around 2012. In 2011, we had to physically go and work with them and make sure the 2013 elections took place.”
The former Nigerian president further explained that events in Guinea Bissau did not follow the usual pattern of a coup d’état and questioned why it was President Umaro Embaló who announced his own arrest. He added that Embaló continued speaking to international media by phone during the alleged arrest.
Jonathan noted that observation missions had reported peaceful elections. He expressed concern that, while the results were still being compiled, Embaló declared that there had been a coup, even though there were signs indicating that he had not been arrested.
“It pains me that President Embaló was the one who announced a military takeover of the government, it is totally unacceptable.
“What happened in Guinea Bissau, I wouldn’t call it a coup; it wasn’t 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 went up later to tell the world that they were in charge of the government.
“Embaló had already announced that there was a coup, which is strange. Not only did he announce the coup, but Embaló, while the coup was taking place, was using his phone and addressing the media around the world to tell them that he had been arrested. I am a Nigerian in my late 70s and I know how they hold Heads of State when a coup occurs.
“They can’t be making jokes; no one should call others fools. There is no way there could be a military coup at a time when they were about to announce the election results and the president was the person who announced the coup. It’s not happening anywhere,” Jonathan said.
Jonathan urged ECOWAS and the African Union to publish the full election results. He also called for the release of opposition leader Fernando Días from military custody.
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