Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday visited President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja, following his return from Guinea-Bissau where he was trapped after a military takeover in the country.
The visit was confirmed by presidential media aide, Bayo Onanuga, in a post on his official X handle.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu received former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa on Saturday on Jonathan’s return to Nigeria from Guinea-Bissau,” he wrote.
“President Jonathan went to the West African on an election monitoring mission. There were concerns about his safety following a military takeover in Guinea-Bissau.”
Hon. Awaji-Inombek Dagomie Abiante, a member of the House of Representatives representing Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency of Rivers State, criticised the Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government for what he described as an alarming silence in the face of Jonathan’s ordeal in Guinea-Bissau.
In a post shared on social media platforms, Abiante expressed concern that it took the intervention of Côte d’Ivoire’s President to evacuate Jonathan from the troubled nation and return him safely to Nigeria.
Viral videos of Jonathan’s return to Abuja showed that the aircraft used belonged to the République de Côte d’Ivoire, as boldly displayed on its fuselage.
Jonathan, however, clarified that both Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire had made arrangements to send aircraft to evacuate him, but Côte d’Ivoire secured flight clearance ahead of Nigeria.
“Both Presidents were to send aircraft to lift us, but somehow, Côte d’Ivoire is closer to Guinea-Bissau… they were able to penetrate their system to get a landing permit before Nigeria could do that,” he said.
“So, the Ivorian aircraft was already on their way to pick us, and when we learnt that the Nigerian aircraft was about leaving, we asked them not to bother. That is why you are seeing the pictures that I was brought by an Ivorian aircraft.”
Jonathan dismissed the events in Guinea-Bissau as a conventional military coup, describing the circumstances as unusual.
Calling it “a ceremonial coup”, he added: “It was the President, President Embalo, who announced the coup before a military man later came up to address the world that they were in charge of everything. By then, President Embalo had announced the coup, which is strange.”
