Coup: Nigeria grants asylum to Guinea-Bissau’s opposition presidential candidate
The Nigerian government has granted special protection to the Guinea-Bissau presidential candidate, Fernando Costa, who had been the main opposition candidate to incumbent President Umaro Embalo in the 2025 presidential election, held on November 23, 2025.
Penpushing reports that the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Bola Tinubu had approved the decision to place Dias under protection within the Nigerian Embassy premises in Guinea-Bissau due to reports of imminent threats to his life.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar in a letter addressed to the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, dated November, 30, 2025 explained that the decision reflects Nigeria’s commitment to safeguarding democratic processes and ensuring the safety of political actors in the region.
Penpushing further reports that similarly, the letter requested ECOWAS to direct its Stabilisation Support Mission in Guinea-Bissau to provide Da Costa with additional protection within the embassy grounds.
“I write to inform you that His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GON, has graciously approved the provision of protection and security in the premises of the Nigerian Embassy in the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, for Mr Fernando Dia Da Costa. Mr President’s decision is a proactive measure to ensure the safety of Mr Da Costa in response to imminent threats to his life’, Tuggar wrote.
“The decision to accommodate Mr Da Costa within the Nigerian premises underscores our firm commitment to safeguarding the democratic aspirations and the sovereign will of the good people of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau’, the letter added.
“In this regard, it would be appreciated if you would kindly mandate the ECOWAS Stabilisation Support Mission in Guinea-Bissau (ESSMGB) to provide him protection and security while in the premises of the Nigerian Embassy’.
Penpushing also reports that since the news broke, the coup has drawn criticism across West Africa, with several governments and regional blocs calling for a return to constitutional order, while some leaders have also accused the ousted president, Embalo, of staging the coup to prevent the announcement of the election result.
The former Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan who led the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission to monitor the election while reacting to the military coup said Mr Embaló’s swift declaration to international media on his phone that he had been arrested cast doubt on the plausibility of the claim.
“What happened in Guinea-Bissau, I would not call it a coup; it was not a coup. For lack of a better word, I will say it was a ceremonial coup because it was President Embaló who announced the coup before the military later came up to address the world that they were in charge of the government’, he said.
Penpushing report that the Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko in his own reaction described the coup as a sham, and called for the electoral process to continue, stressing that the electoral commission must be able to declare the winner
“What happened in Guinea-Bissau was a sham. We want the electoral process to continue. The (electoral) commission must be able to declare the winner’, the Senegalese Prime declared.
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