'Guinea Bissau Takeover Was Only A Ceremonial Coup'

Jonathan says Guinea Bissau takeover was only a ceremonial coup.
He questions Embaló announcing his own arrest during takeover.
Jonathan urges ECOWAS to release election results without interference.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday dismissed the military takeover in Guinea Bissau as “not a coup,” describing the events as “maybe a ceremonial coup.” His remarks came two days after heavy gunfire erupted around government institutions in Bissau, where soldiers announced they had taken total control of the country.

At the height of the crisis, former President Umaro Sissoco Embaló said he was arrested in his office at the presidential palace, sparking fear and uncertainty. Following the arrest, the military imposed a nighttime curfew, halted the electoral process and shut national borders. Several senior officials, including security, military and interior ministry officers, were detained during the takeover.

Nigeria condemned the incident, calling it “a serious threat to democracy and regional stability,” while confirming that Jonathan had been safely evacuated. He had been in Guinea Bissau as leader of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission ahead of the November 23 elections, which were disrupted by the takeover.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that Jonathan, speaking in an interview posted on YouTube, said he chose to address the public to thank Nigerians for their concern and clarify developments about his safety. He said, “You know, since I left office, I’ve always been scared of talking to the media. But in this particular case, I decided to speak… first and foremost, to thank Nigerians for the show of empathy, the encouragement.”

He added that the incident did not resemble a typical military takeover. “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. Because for two things: It is the president, President Embaló, who announced the coup. Later, the military men came up to address the world that they were in charge of everywhere.

“Then Embaló had already announced the coup, which is strange. 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 questioned the credibility of the situation. “I’m a Nigerian close to 70, and I know how they keep heads of state when a coup takes place. Recently, I was a mediator in Mali. And within that period, we had a military coup.

“The military doesn’t take over governments, and the sitting president that 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?”

The former president urged ECOWAS and the African Union to ensure that the election results already collated are announced without interference. “Basically, what happened in Guinea Bissau is quite disturbing to me, who believes in democracy. They have the results because AU and ECOWAS officials were in all the regions when the results were collated. They cannot change those results.

“They should tally all those results and announce them. They cannot force the military out. They must announce and let the world know who won that election. Let the world know who won that election.”

He also recalled the 2010 Côte d’Ivoire election crisis, stressing that democratic outcomes must be respected. “A similar thing happened in Côte d’Ivoire when I was the Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS.

“When we had elections in Côte d’Ivoire in 2010, Laurent Gbagbo was the sitting president. In the first round, Gbagbo got forty something per cent of the votes, and Alassane Ouattara got thirty something per cent.

“And their law, you must get 50 per cent of the votes plus one, at least. Democracy is about the majority. You must get a simple majority to be the president, so they had to go for a second round.

“When they went for the second round, all those other candidates that lost now supported Ouattara, and Ouattara then got more votes than Gbagbo. And Gbagbo said he was not going, that he won the election, and that Ouattara and somebody who had something could not come and defeat him. But that is their law.

“Then all the observers in the international community said Ouattara won the election. And we in ECOWAS said, well, you are our colleague, but you have to go. If the observers, everybody, say Ouattara won the election, Ouattara must be sworn in as the president of Côte d’Ivoire. I stood my ground as the Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, and Ouattara was sworn in.”