Former President Goodluck Jonathan met with President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, continuing a series of periodic engagements between the two leaders focused on regional politics in West Africa and Nigeria’s role on the continent.
The meeting, which took place around 4 p.m., was made public by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
He shared images from the encounter on his X account, captioning them, “President Tinubu meets former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Villa.”
Photos from the visit showed both leaders in a calm and informal conversation, with a document titled “Two-Year Milestone” visible within the office setting.
While officials did not disclose details of the discussions, the visit comes several months after Jonathan’s previous meeting with Tinubu in November 2025.
That earlier visit followed closely after Jonathan’s evacuation from Guinea-Bissau, where he had been leading an election observation mission under the West African Elders Forum.
He was airlifted out of the country after a coup led by Brigadier-General Dinis Incanha resulted in the arrest of President Umaro Sissoco Embaló on November 26, just a day before the announcement of results from the November 23 presidential election.
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Jonathan had, at the time, urged ECOWAS leaders to ensure that opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa was released and that the election outcome was made public.
“They cannot kick out the military with force; otherwise, people will die. But let us know who the winner of this election is,” he told reporters after meeting Tinubu, adding, “It is what some people call a palace coup. It’s not a palace coup.
We know real coups. In Nigeria, we know a palace coup when we see one. This was not even a palace coup. I describe it as a ceremonial coup.”
He added that it “was a ceremony conducted by the head of state himself.”
In January 2026, Guinea-Bissau’s transitional authorities announced plans to hold both presidential and legislative elections on December 6, 2026. However, ECOWAS had yet to formally approve the timeline, having earlier rejected a proposed transition schedule by the coup leaders.
The election date was set by decree from transitional President General Horta Inta-a, who stated that “all conditions for organising free, fair and transparent elections have been met.”
Over the past decade, Jonathan has remained actively involved in election monitoring and mediation efforts across West Africa, participating in missions in countries such as Mali, The Gambia, Liberia, and most recently Guinea-Bissau. He has described his role as that of a “roving ambassador.”