Gambian leader Yahaya Jammeh is receptive to the advice by West African leaders that he should respect the election result and hand over power, President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday.
He spoke after a meeting of four Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders with Jammeh in The Gambian capital Banjul.
He spoke after a meeting of four Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders with Jammeh in The Gambian capital Banjul.
The leaders were there to press Jammeh to hand over power to President-elect Adama Barrow.
Other members of the delegation were Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma and Ghana’s President John Mahama.
Other members of the delegation were Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma and Ghana’s President John Mahama.
Asked if Jammeh had been receptive to a message from the delegation, Buhari told reporters shortly after the meeting: “Yes, very much so.”
But Gambian soldiers yesterday took over the offices of the electoral commission.
Jammeh cited irregularities in the official results, but his abrupt about-face drew international criticism, and a delegation of West African presidents arrived early yesterday on a mission to resolve the crisis.
Jammeh cited irregularities in the official results, but his abrupt about-face drew international criticism, and a delegation of West African presidents arrived early yesterday on a mission to resolve the crisis.
A photo provided by Gambia’s Information Ministry and taken before the meeting showed the five heads of state seated in Jammeh’s elaborately decorated office at State House wearing leaden expressions, with the exception of Jammeh who had a faint smile. A military officer looked on.
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