Nigeria grants asylum to presidential candidate Fernando Dias

Nigeria has granted asylum to Guinea-Bissau’s presidential candidate Fernando Dias da Costa, a few days after the coup that prevented the announcement of the results of the latest elections.

The Nigerian Foreign Minister said that the 47-year-old man, who ran for the Social Renewal Party, was under special protection at the Nigerian embassy, ​​after “threats were made against him.”

Dias was the main rival of Amr Sissoko Embalo, who was seeking a second term as president and left the country after the military coup.

A delegation from the West African bloc (ECOWAS) is visiting the country, urging the army to step down and announce the results of the vote.

But the electoral commission has now said it will not be able to publish the results because masked gunmen destroyed the papers and the main computer server that stored results from different regions.

Both Embalo and Dias declared victory in the presidential elections held on November 23.

PAIGC, the liberation movement that ended Portuguese colonial rule, has been prevented from fielding a candidate.

The coup occurred three days after the vote. The army suspended the electoral process and obstructed the publication of the results, insisting that it was acting as such Thwarting a plot to destabilize a politically unstable country.

The junta also tightened restrictions in the country, banning all demonstrations and “all acts disturbing peace and stability in the country.”

Tensions remain high in the capital, Bissau. The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde said its headquarters had been “illegally invaded by heavily armed militias” following the coup.

Its leader, Domingos Pereira, was arrested on the day of the coup, according to his family and party members.

Dias said he fled his campaign headquarters on the day of the coup when armed men came to arrest him.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Togar said that President Bola Tinubu had agreed to provide protection for Dias inside the Nigerian embassy in Bissau.

“The decision to accommodate Mr [Fernando Dias] In a letter to the Chairman of the ECOWAS Commission, Aliu Omar Touray, Togar said that da Costa’s visit to the Nigeria headquarters confirms our firm commitment to protecting the democratic aspirations and sovereign will of the good people of Guinea-Bissau.

The letter also requested that soldiers from the country’s ECOWAS unit be deployed at the Nigerian embassy to keep Dias safe.

The reflection talks that took place on Monday between the ECOWAS delegation led by Sierra Leone Foreign Minister Alhaji Musa Timothy Kaba and the military junta were tense.

Capa then told reporters that the discussions were “productive,” but noted that “both parties expressed their concerns.”

The military junta has already sworn in a new transitional leader, General Horta Ntam. Who will rule the country for a year?.

ECOWAS leaders suspended Guinea-Bissau’s membership in all decision-making bodies until constitutional order is restored.

Idrissa Jallow, a senior official at the Electoral Commission, explained on Tuesday how its offices were attacked on the day of the coup.

“They confiscated the computers of all 45 employees who were on the committee that day,” he said in a statement.

He added that not only were the results conducted there destroyed, but election tally lists from the two main regions to the capital were also intercepted and confiscated.

The true motives behind the coup in Guinea Bissau remain unclear Amid speculation that it may have been staged.

Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said the coup was fabricated without providing evidence.

Some local civil society groups also accused Embalo of staging a “simulated coup” against himself with the help of the military, saying it was a ruse to prevent the election results from being revealed if he lost.

Embalo, who previously faced accusations of using crises to suppress dissent, did not respond to the coup allegations.

53 years old He was allowed to leave for neighboring Senegal on ThursdayFrom there he reportedly moved to Congo-Brazzaville at the weekend.

Guinea Bissau has witnessed at least nine coups or coup attempts over the past five decades.

It is located between Senegal and Guinea, and is known as a drug trafficking hub where the army has had influence since its independence from Portugal in 1974.