By Amofokhai Williams
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu hosted former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa here on Saturday, marking Jonathan’s uneventful return from a high-stakes election monitoring mission in Guinea-Bissau.
The meeting, held against the backdrop of recent political turbulence in the West African neighbour, underscored Nigeria’s enduring role as a stabilizing force in regional democracy while quelling domestic anxieties over the elder statesman’s safety.
Jonathan, who served as Nigeria’s president from 2010 to 2015, had travelled to Guinea-Bissau earlier this month as part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) delegation to oversee the country’s legislative elections on November 17.
The mission, intended to bolster electoral integrity in the fragile nation, took a precarious turn just days later when elements of the Guinea-Bissau military staged a bloodless coup on November 22, ousting President Umaro Sissoco Embaló’s government in a bid to “restore order” amid allegations of corruption and electoral fraud.
News of the takeover sparked immediate alarm in Abuja and across West Africa. Jonathan, a seasoned election observer who has mediated conflicts in nations like Kenya and Zimbabwe, was among a cadre of international monitors potentially caught in the crossfire.
ECOWAS swiftly condemned the coup, imposing travel advisories and urging restraint, while Nigerian officials monitored the situation closely.
Tinubu’s administration, which has prioritized countering jihadist insurgencies and democratic backsliding in the Sahel, mobilized discreet diplomatic channels to ensure Jonathan’s extraction.
The former president departed Bissau on Friday evening via a chartered flight arranged with ECOWAS support, arriving in Abuja without incident.
