Former APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Timi Frank, has raised serious concerns over what he describes as “a dangerous assault on democracy” in Guinea-Bissau, following the detention of leading opposition figure Domingos Simões Pereira and the suspension of presidential election results.
Frank said emerging accounts — including observations from former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan — suggest that the purported coup attempt was orchestrated to halt an imminent transfer of power after indications that Pereira, candidate of the PAIGC, was likely defeating incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embaló.
He noted that reports linking General Biagino Nhanca to the alleged coup deepened suspicions that the incident was “a smokescreen for electoral sabotage, not a genuine attempt to protect the state.”
In a strongly worded statement, Frank, who serves as ULMWP Ambassador to East Africa and the Middle East, demanded the immediate release of Pereira and the full announcement of election results “exactly as cast by the people.”
“What we are seeing is not a coup but a coordinated political–military conspiracy to overturn the people’s mandate,” Frank said. “It is an attempted theft of democracy and a threat to regional stability.”
He warned that failure by the international community to act decisively would embolden incumbents across Africa to manufacture crises whenever they lose elections.
According to him, “If this goes unchallenged, it becomes a dangerous blueprint: lose an election, announce a coup, detain your opponent, and freeze the results.”
Frank urged ECOWAS, the African Union, the European Union, the United States, and global pro-democracy groups to apply immediate pressure to restore civilian rule and release the withheld results. He also called on international partners to freeze assets, suspend grants, and impose sanctions on President Embaló and his allies.
“African leaders must understand that illegal actions carry consequences,” Frank said, reaffirming solidarity with the people of Guinea-Bissau. “The ballot — not the barrel of a gun — must determine who leads.”