Discussions on The Gambian impasse would continue, as ECOWAS leaders meet in Abuja this Saturday, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said, Tuesday after meetings with the defeated Gambian leader, Yaya Jammeh .
Johnson-Sirleaf who led a team of West African, leaders including Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari to hold talks with Jammeh, urged him to hand over power “within constitutional deadlines, and in accordance with electoral laws of The Gambia.”
According to a statement by Nigeria’s presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, the high-level team, in series of meetings that lasted the whole of Tuesday, met with President Yahya Jammeh, twice, conferred with Barrow, consulted with security chiefs, members of the diplomatic community, leadership of the electoral commission, and many other interest groups.
“The consensus was that President Jammeh needed to respect the result of the December 1 election, which he had earlier accepted, congratulated the winner, only to recant a week later, calling for fresh polls “to be conducted by a God-fearing electoral commission” the statement read in part.
The Joint ECOWAS-AU-UN team, made of President Buhari, President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, outgoing President John Mahama of Ghana, and Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, (UN Special Representative for West Africa), encouraged Jammeh to reconsider his rejection of the election results citing “tallying errors” and his call for new elections.
Jammeh, who came into power through a coup in 1994, as a 29 year old military officer had previously won four polls and subsequently ruled for 22 years.
A coalition of seven political parties that produced Adama Barrow, President-elect of The Gambia, said the country was looking up to Nigeria’s President Buhari to deploy his vast experience, alongside other African leaders, to resolve the political logjam in the tiny West African country.
Speaking with the media during the high-level ECOWAS /AU/UN Joint Mission to The Gambia on Tuesday, Hamad Bah, one of the coalition members, declared:
“We need the experience of President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria in many ways. Like President Jammeh, he is a former military officer, so he knows how the military thinks, and would be able to talk to him appropriately.
“Again, President Buhari was in the opposition in Nigeria for about 12 years, before he won election in 2015. So, he also knows how the opposition thinks. He can feel what we feel. We are quite glad that President Buhari is here, it gives us a lot of hope.”
Elizabeth Archibong
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