President Bola Tinubu on Thursday participated in an extraordinary virtual summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, convened to address the escalating political crisis in Guinea-Bissau, following Wednesday’s military coup.
The emergency diplomatic meeting was held on Zoom, the video conferencing platform widely adopted for high-level virtual engagements, with several Heads of State and Government joining remotely across the West African region.
A photograph released by the State House Media Department showed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu attending the summit virtually from Abuja on Thursday.
Naijaonpoint reports that Guinea-Bissau was destabilised on Wednesday when military officers seized power after detaining President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, shutting the country’s borders, blocking key routes, and suspending election processes.
Heavy gunfire reportedly rang out near the presidential palace as soldiers asserted dominance.
The Guinea-Bissau military later announced that General Horta Nta Na Man would head a transitional government that would run for one year, beginning immediately.
The appointment signals an interim power transition sponsored by the same forces that declared total control earlier on Wednesday.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu served as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government for two consecutive terms before stepping down from the role in June 2025, when leadership was formally handed over to Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio.
The extraordinary summit on Thursday reflects ECOWAS’ determination to curb political instability in the region amid a resurgence of coups affecting West African democracies in recent years.
© 2025 Naijaonpoint, a division of NOP Media Inc. Contact us via [email protected]