Foreign
ECOWAS Suspends Guinea-Bissau After Coup, Orders Immediate Release of President
West African leaders have placed a suspension on Guinea-Bissau following the military takeover of November 26, saying the action has pushed the country into deeper political uncertainty.
The regional bloc stressed that the democratic order must return immediately and demanded the release of President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who was seized during the crisis.
This decision came after an emergency virtual meeting of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council held on Thursday night.
The session, chaired by Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, brought together heads of state, foreign ministers, and top representatives from several member countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, Cabo Verde, and Côte d’Ivoire. Senior officials from Benin, The Gambia, and Togo were also part of the deliberations.
Officials from the ECOWAS Commission, the African Union, the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, and Guinea-Bissau’s foreign minister joined the meeting as observers.
The atmosphere was tense, as the council reviewed a detailed report submitted by ECOWAS Commission President Omar Touray on the escalating situation.
In the briefing, leaders raised alarm over the disruption of the electoral process in the country.
They commended ordinary citizens for their “resilience and commitment to democracy” despite the tension surrounding the November 23 polls. The council noted that the takeover has undermined confidence in the democratic transition.
ECOWAS, in its formal resolution, said it “condemns in the strongest terms the coup d’état perpetrated on 26 November 2025 and calls for the unconditional restoration of constitutional order without delay.”
The bloc added that it “rejects any arrangements that perpetuate the illegal abortion of the democratic process and the subversion of the will of the people of Guinea-Bissau.”
The regional body insisted that the electoral commission must be allowed to continue its work and release results from the suspended vote. It demanded that the “will of the people” be respected and urged coup leaders to stop interfering with the electoral process.
The communiqué further called for the “immediate and unconditional release of all detained officials, in particular President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, as well as the electoral officials and all other political figures.”
ECOWAS warned that the masterminds of the coup would be held “both individually and collectively responsible for the protection of life and property of all citizens and residents of Guinea-Bissau and for the security and safety of all detainees.”
The council instructed the military to guarantee safe access for ECOWAS observers and international partners still monitoring the election.
It stated that “the MSC decides, in accordance with the provisions of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance 2001 (A/SP/12/01), to suspend Guinea-Bissau from all ECOWAS decision-making bodies until the restoration of full and effective constitutional order in the country.”
To address the crisis, a high-level delegation led by the ECOWAS chair and supported by the presidents of Togo, Cabo Verde, and Senegal will travel to Bissau for direct engagement with the coup leaders. Their mandate is to push for the swift reinstatement of democratic governance.
The bloc urged the military high command to step back from politics, return to the barracks, and uphold their constitutional responsibilities. ECOWAS also directed its Stabilization Support Mission in Guinea-Bissau to continue safeguarding state institutions in the meantime.
In a sign of escalating pressure, the organization warned that it “reserves the right to use all options” allowed under its protocols, including sanctions, if the junta continues to defy the regional position.
The African Union and the European Union also issued strong reactions, condemning the coup and demanding the release of President Embaló.
Senegal confirmed on Thursday that the detained president had been flown into the country “safe and sound.”
Political tensions had been rising even before the coup, as the electoral race between President Embaló and opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa grew fiercely competitive.
Dias da Costa later told reporters that he believed he won the vote and accused Embaló of manipulating the process—an allegation the president firmly denied.
Following the takeover, the military named General Horta N’Tam, the army chief of staff, as the head of a one-year transition. After taking his oath, he told the nation, “I have just been sworn in to lead the High Command.”
Guinea-Bissau has a long history of political instability, and this latest development has once again placed the fragile nation at the centre of regional diplomatic attention.
A new investigation by The New York Times claims Sudan’s military ran an organized program in 2024 to develop and produce chlorine-based munitions, escalating long-standing allegations of chemical weapons use in the country’s war.
According to the report, the Times reviewed nearly 150 documents, plus photos, videos, audio recordings and thousands of messages. The materials describe months of work to design, test and manufacture about 300 bombs filled with chlorine.
Brigadier General Tariq Hussein is named as one of the principal supervisors. The documents detail a munition that combined explosives with large quantities of chlorine, and tests carried out before production.
One of the most serious claims involves the source of the chemical. The dossier alleges that some chlorine was taken from a water-treatment facility in Omdurman, at a time when Sudan is facing cholera outbreaks and a collapse of basic services.
The investigation also points to senior leadership. Voice and text messages reportedly implicate army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in knowledge of the program, and in orders to “remove all traces” after U.S. pressure and sanctions.
This is not the first time chemical weapons have been alleged in Sudan. Independent.ng reported that the Sudanese Alliance for Rights filed a case at the International Criminal Court against four senior Port Sudan Authority leaders, including al-Burhan, accusing them of using chemical weapons and committing serious violations against civilians. The lawsuit also names Yasser al-Atta, Shams al-Din al-Kabashi and Major General Taher Mohammed, and calls for an urgent ICC investigation.
The U.S. has already acted on earlier findings.
Independent.ng noted that Washington imposed additional penalties in May 2025 over the alleged use of chemical weapons, further linking Sudan’s war to international politics.
Chlorine is permitted for water purification, but using it as a weapon violates the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Sudan ratified. Experts say its civilian availability makes it easier to obtain and harder to monitor than military-grade agents.
With the conflict since April 2023 already causing mass displacement and famine, rights groups are now calling for an independent international investigation with access to sites, documents and the chain of command.
The retired Nigerian Army Major General, Danjuma Hamisu Ali-Keffi, has alleged that two prominent members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretly sought confidential records on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from United States government agencies.
Ali-Keffi, a former General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, made the claim while speaking about the events that shaped Tinubu’s emergence as the APC presidential candidate.
According to him, the alleged attempt was brought to his attention by former Director of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Modibbo Hamman-Tukur.
The retired general said the incident happened during the period when powerful figures within the APC were struggling to determine who would secure the party’s ticket for the 2023 presidential election.
Ali-Keffi said the information came to him while he was serving as Commander of Operation Service Wide, an operation he described as being focused on terrorism financing and the leadership structures of terrorist organisations.
He explained that Hamman-Tukur later told him about an alleged move by two influential APC figures who were opposed to Tinubu’s presidential ambition.
According to Ali-Keffi, the individuals allegedly gained access to the office of the NFIU director without authorisation and sent requests to American government agencies for information concerning Tinubu.
“Two prominent APC people who were against Tinubu entered illegally into the office of NFIU director and sent messages to the US government agencies requesting confidential records of Bola Ahmed Tinubu on those issues – terrorism financing,” Ali-Keffi said.
The retired military officer said the former NFIU director was uncomfortable with the development.
He claimed Hamman-Tukur later went to his office at about 2am after becoming aware of what was happening.
According to Ali-Keffi, the people allegedly involved realised that the NFIU director had arrived and subsequently left the office.
Ali-Keffi further claimed that a response was later received from the United States concerning the request.
He, however, said he was not aware of the exact information contained in the response.
“I don’t know what the record is or related to current issues regarding his forfeiture and other issues, if I am not mistaken,” he said.
The former army commander was careful to distinguish between the alleged request for information and any conclusion about Tinubu.
He said he had no personal knowledge of the contents of the records allegedly requested from the US authorities.
He also did not claim that the records established that Tinubu committed any offence.
Instead, he said his account was based on information he received from Hamman-Tukur at the time.
Ali-Keffi also alleged that NFIU officials connected to the incident were later dismissed. He said the matter eventually became the subject of legal proceedings.
The retired general further brought former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, into the account.
Ali-Keffi alleged that El-Rufai was aware of some of the information relating to the request for Tinubu’s records.
He said the former Kaduna governor was among the political figures who had knowledge of the matter but did not support the idea of using confidential information against Tinubu.
Tinubu eventually defeated other contenders at the APC presidential primary in June 2022.
He went on to defeat Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party in the February 2023 presidential election.
Ali-Keffi said his own decision to support Tinubu at the time was influenced partly by El-Rufai’s argument that power should move from the North to the South.
He recalled that the argument was based on the need to maintain a sense of balance and national unity after former President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner, had completed his second term.
The retired general said the political situation could have been different if the alleged information obtained from the United States had been made public before the APC primary.
“Had people like the former NFIU Director and people like El-Rufai who were in the know, who were aware of that documents that were sent in respect of candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had they allowed it to get to public domain at that time, I believe it would have perhaps hurt the candidaty of Ahmed Bola Tinubu. Certainly, he wouldn’t have gotten the ticket to fly the flag of APC at that time,” Ali-Keffi said.
Several prominent politicians had shown interest in the APC presidential ticket before Tinubu eventually emerged as the party’s candidate.
Ali-Keffi said those considerations played an important role in the eventual decision by some politicians to back Tinubu.
He also recounted a separate conversation involving former Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) chairman, Muhammad Nami, and an unnamed powerful minister who was said to have been close to Buhari.
According to Ali-Keffi, Nami approached the minister during the United Nations General Assembly in New York in an effort to persuade him to support Tinubu.
The retired general said the minister expressed reservations about Tinubu and warned that he could take action against some people if he eventually became president.
“Look, Ahmed Tinubu is going to come after them. He was going to do this and that. You people don’t know this,” Ali-Keffi recalled the minister as saying.
Nami, according to Ali-Keffi, continued to make the case for a Southern presidency and argued that handing the APC ticket to a Southern candidate would promote national balance.
However, years after the 2023 election, Ali-Keffi said he now regrets his decision to support Tinubu.
“I regret actually voting for him,” he said.
He also stated that he would not vote for the ruling party in the next election.
“I’m not going to vote APC next election,” Ali-Keffi said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has published the personal particulars of candidates nominated for the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections, with President Bola Tinubu’s nomination documents showing that the sections for his primary and secondary education were left blank.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has published the personal particulars of candidates nominated for the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections, with President Bola Tinubu’s nomination documents showing that the sections for his primary and secondary education were left blank.
In a related development, POLITICS NIGERIA reported in August that fresh controversy had emerged over Tinubu’s academic credentials.
This came after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) explained why his primary and secondary school certificates were not included among the documents displayed for the 2027 election.
The commission said it displayed the documents submitted by candidates and did not have the authority to demand additional credentials or alter the information contained in their submissions.
Source: Politics Nigeria
The Nigerian Ambassador-designate to Mexico, Reno Omokri, has disclosed that records from the United States, US, Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, cleared suspicions that President Bola Tinubu is 90 years old.
Omokri disclosed that a letter from the FBI, sent via the US Embassy in Lagos and addressed to the Nigerian government, revealed that Tinubu was born on March 29, 1952.
Recall that the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had claimed that he had evidence that Tinubu is 90 years old.
Atiku disclosed that he would tender the evidence in court.
However, Omokri dismissed Atiku’s claim during an interview on the City Boy Movement’s media one-on-one podcast with Otega Ogra, a Senior Special Assistant to Tinubu on Digital and New Media, yesterday.
According to Omokri: “First of all, Atiku was never my principal; he’s my friend. I have a document here from the FBI via the American Embassy. At that time, it was in Lagos, and I can read it for you.
“It’s a letter to the Nigerian government and Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun, at that time.
“In relation to your letter dated February 3, 2003, regarding Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a record check of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Crime Information Centre was conducted.
“The result of the check was negative for any criminal arrest records, wants or warrants for Bola Tinubu.
“Another thing is that this is just a complete vindication of Tinubu. But notice that the FBI records have the President’s date of birth, which is March 29, 1952. So, this document destroys anybody trying to say that the President is 90 years old.”
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