By Sochima Agbo 

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has returned to Nigeria after being temporarily stuck in Guinea-Bissau, where a sudden military coup halted the country’s election process. Jonathan had travelled as part of a joint observer mission representing the AU, ECOWAS and the West African Elders Forum before the armed forces shut the borders and imposed a curfew.

Nigeria has strongly denounced the coup, calling it a dangerous and unconstitutional act that threatens peace and stability across West Africa. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the immediate restoration of democratic rule and demanded the release of all detained electoral officials.

In the wake of the takeover, the military appointed General Horta N’Tam—formerly commander of the presidential guard—as the one-year transitional leader. The coup unfolded amid rising political tension after both President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and his challenger, Fernando Dias, claimed victory in Sunday’s election even before official results were issued.

Election observer missions jointly led by Jonathan, Issifu Kamara and former Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi condemned the intervention, insisting that voting had progressed peacefully before the army disrupted the process. They urged the AU and ECOWAS to take decisive action to defend Guinea-Bissau’s democratic institutions.

As the crisis deepened, President Bola Tinubu joined fellow West African leaders in an emergency ECOWAS virtual summit aimed at coordinating a regional response. The meeting underscored the bloc’s growing concerns over repeated military interventions across the sub-region.

Amid the confusion, a coalition of civil society organisations in Guinea-Bissau accused the ousted president of staging a “self-coup” to derail the release of election results—an allegation yet to be addressed by the military authorities.

Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry later confirmed Jonathan’s safe evacuation, assuring the nation that the former president had been removed from harm’s way as diplomatic pressure mounts to restore constitutional order in Guinea-Bissau.