The Federal Government has confirmed that former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is safe and has left Guinea-Bissau following the military coup that toppled the country’s government.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, made this known in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Thursday.
According to him “Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is very safe and out of Guinea-Bissau. He left with a special flight with members of his delegation, including Mohamed Chambas,”.
Jonathan earlier led the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission to the country to monitor last Sunday’s presidential and legislative elections.
Guinea-Bissau military junta truncated the democratic government of the country, a move which send panic across the West African sub-region and widely perceived as a threat to democracy and the stability in the region.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, Filipe Nyusi, former president of Mozambique and Head of the African Union Election Observation Mission; Issifu Kamara, Head of the Economic Community of West African States Election Observation Mission; and Jonathan condemned the coup, describing it as a direct attempt to disrupt Guinea-Bissau’s democratic process.
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They appealed for calm among residents and reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Guinea-Bissau “during this sensitive period,” stressing “the importance of preserving peace, stability, and the well-being of the Bissau-Guinean people.”
TVC previously reported that the Federal Government of Nigeria has condemned the military takeover of the democratic government of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, describing the coup as a threat to democracy and the stability of the West African sub-region.
In a statement signed by Kimiebi Ebienfa, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the FG expressed that it “learned with profound dismay and deep concern the unfortunate military coup which has led to an unconstitutional change of government in the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.”
The Federal Government condemned the military action “in the strongest possible terms,” stating that it violates the principles and protocols of democracy and good governance entrenched in the laws of the Economic Community of West African States.
