Gambian President Yahya Jammeh attends a meeting with a delegation of West African leaders during the election crisis mediation at the presidential palace in Banjul, Gambia on December 13, 2016.
The president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has announced he will be meeting some leaders of West African countries in Abuja, today.
This meeting is to continue with efforts to mediate in the political crisis in The Gambia where the incumbent president, Yahya Jammeh has refused to step down after losing last year’s presidential elections.
The Economic Community of West Africa failed to reach a decision when some leaders from the regional bloc met in Accra, Ghana at the inauguration of president Akufo-Addo.
A decision whether to deploy troops to oust the Gambia leader was deferred after the chairperson of the ECOWAS and Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said talks will continue as the leaders monitor what is happening at the Supreme Court where Mr. Jammeh has filed a petition challenging the results.
The West African Leaders meeting President Buhari include Senegal President Macky Sall, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Sierra Leone Vice-President Victor Foh. They will be joined by the former Ghanaian president John Mahama.
Tomorrow in Abuja, in my role as ECOWAS-mandated Mediator, I will host a meeting of West African leaders on the situation in The Gambia.
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) January 8, 2017
The task of these leaders is to ensure that Adama Barrow, the declared winner of the polls in Gambia is sworn in peacefully on 19 January. An earlier move by these leaders to persuade Mr. Jammeh to step down peacefully failed last month.
Mr. Jammeh has warned of mutiny should ECOWAS’ standby force attempts to enter his country to force him out.
Photo Credit: Reuters
Source: Africafeeds.com
