President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Saturday received former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, following Jonathan’s return from Guinea-Bissau, where a military takeover disrupted the country’s electoral process.

According to Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Jonathan visited Aso Rock to brief the President on his assignment as head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission.

Speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting, Jonathan confirmed that he had completed his observation duties in Guinea-Bissau before the political tensions escalated. He urged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to engage the country’s military leadership to release detained opposition figures and announce the results of the election already concluded.

Jonathan emphasized that the candidate who won the poll should be inaugurated without further delay.

He also clarified comments he made earlier describing the events in Bissau as “maybe a ceremonial coup,” insisting that while the situation was tense, it did not fully align with a conventional military coup.

The crisis in Guinea-Bissau deepened on Wednesday when heavy gunfire erupted around key government institutions and soldiers announced they had taken “total control” of the country. 

Former President Umaro Sissoco Embaló revealed he had been arrested at the presidential palace. The military subsequently imposed a nighttime curfew, shut the borders, and suspended the electoral process.

Several senior government, security, and military officials were also detained during the takeover.

The Federal Government of Nigeria condemned the incident as a threat to democracy and regional stability, while confirming that Jonathan had been safely evacuated from the troubled West African nation.

Jonathan had been in Guinea-Bissau leading a monitoring mission for the November 23 presidential and legislative elections before the unrest halted the declaration of results.