Former President Goodluck Jonathan has called for the immediate release of the Guinea-Bissau presidential election results.

He warned that withholding them undermines democracy in West Africa.

Jonathan made the call in Abuja during an interview with journalists, noting that announcing the result would demonstrate integrity.

He insisted that the African Union (AU) and ECOWAS have access to the authentic results and must publish them.

“My conviction is that ECOWAS and the AU must announce the result. They have the results.

“They were present in all the regions. They cannot change anything. They should tally the figures and announce the winner.

“They cannot force the military out, but they must let the world know who won that election. They owe the world that responsibility,” he said.

The former Bayelsa governor said the situation in Guinea-Bissau deeply troubled him because he had invested significant effort in supporting the country’s return to democratic governance.

“Who is fooling whom? What happened in Guinea-Bissau is disturbing to me as someone who believes in democracy. I feel more pained than the day I called [former President Muhammadu] Buhari to congratulate him after losing the election as a sitting president,” he said.

Jonathan recalled the country’s long-standing instability and his efforts as Nigeria’s president to help stabilise it.

He served on the West African Elders Forum delegation during the election. He stressed that the polls were peaceful and credible.

Jonathan added that the nine regional results had been collated and were almost ready for announcement before the sudden coup declaration.

“While we were waiting for the final announcement, President [Umaro] Embaló suddenly declared there was a coup and that he had been arrested. But from all indications, nobody arrested him,” he said.

Jonathan referenced the 2010 Côte d’Ivoire post-election crisis when he served as the ECOWAS chairman.

The former president urged ECOWAS leaders to show similar firmness in Guinea-Bissau.

“The leadership of ECOWAS and AU must be courageous. I am not asking anyone to mobilise soldiers. There is no need to spill blood. But the results are there. Nobody should play pranks or treat others as fools.

“Don’t worry. Even if only five countries remain in ECOWAS, so be it. It is costly to do the right thing, but ECOWAS must not bother. If Guinea-Bissau wants to join the military camp, they should,” he added.

Guinea-Bissau military officers took “total control” of the country on Wednesday, suspending the nation’s electoral process and closing its borders, days after presidential and legislative elections.

Following the coup, the head of the presidential military office, General Denis N’Canha, said a command “composed of all branches of the armed forces, was taking over the leadership of the country until further notice”.

The officers arrested President Umaro Embalo, who had been favoured to win Sunday’s election, though he left for Senegal.

A day after the coup, the military named the chief of staff of the army, General Horta N’Tam, as the country’s new leader for one year. (Channels)

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