President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday joined other West African Heads of State and Government in an extraordinary virtual summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to address the unfolding political crisis in Guinea-Bissau, where the military on Wednesday overthrew the government and detained President Umaro Sissoco Embaló.
The emergency meeting, convened via Zoom, brought together leaders of the regional bloc in a swift diplomatic response to the latest in a string of coups destabilising West Africa.
A photograph released by the State House Media Department showed President Tinubu participating in the high-level session from Abuja.
The coup in Guinea-Bissau, carried out barely 24 hours earlier, saw soldiers arrest the sitting president and announce General Horta Nta Na Man as head of a transitional government expected to last one year.
Tinubu, who served two consecutive terms as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government until June 2025, joined the leaders to review the situation, consider ECOWAS’ response options, and reinforce the bloc’s long-standing stance against unconstitutional changes of government.
Thursday’s extraordinary summit underscored the regional body’s worry over the resurgence of military takeovers in recent years, and its commitment to preventing further instability within the sub-region.
The meeting comes as ECOWAS seeks to maintain pressure on juntas across the region, safeguard democratic processes, and mitigate the broader security implications of recurring coups.
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