Following threats to the life of the Guinea-Bissau opposition presidential candidate Fernando Dias da Costa, the Nigerian embassy in the country has granted him asylum.
The development comes after military officers staged a coup in the Portuguese-speaking West African nation last Wednesday, days after the presidential elections.
In a letter to Omar Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said President Bola Tinubu had approved da Costa’s protection within the Nigerian embassy in Guinea-Bissau.
The letter, dated 30 November, requested that the ECOWAS Stabilization Support Mission in Guinea-Bissau (ESSMGB) provide security for da Costa while on embassy premises.
Alkasim Abdulkadir, Tuggar’s special assistant on media and communications, confirmed the letter’s authenticity, emphasising that Nigeria’s decision reflects its sovereign responsibility and longstanding commitment to regional peace, stability, and democratic governance.
He added that the intervention aligns with ECOWAS principles and Nigeria’s role as a stabilising force in the region.
“Acting in the interest of de-escalation, Nigeria exercised its lawful discretion to prevent further tensions and promote social cohesion in Guinea-Bissau and the wider West African sub-region,” Abdulkadir said.
Both President Umaro Embaló and Da Costa had declared victory before the electoral commission could announce the official results.
Nigeria expressed deep concern over the coup and called for the immediate restoration of constitutional order.
Following the coup, ECOWAS convened an emergency virtual summit of heads of state and government, and subsequently suspending Guinea-Bissau from the bloc until constitutional order is restored.
Veteran journalist and recipient of A.B.C Yola, Reporter of the Year Award (1997), Hassan Umar Shallpella, works with WAP as a Regional Correspondence. He was trained at Institute of Mass Communication and Technology Jos and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Training School Lagos.He was a News desk Editor and a Correspondent at the Punch newspaper and till 2019, was the Deputy Editor ofThe Scope newspaper.
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