Gambia polls: President Yahya Jammeh to concede defeat

- President Yahya Jammeh is to concede defeat in the Gambian election

- Jammeh has been in power for 22 years

- Observers are comparing his likely concession to that of Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan

President Yahya Jammeh has lost the presidential election in Gambia after 22 years in power.

Jammeh's main opponent in the election, Adama Barrow scored 263,515 votes to defeat the president who scored 212,099 votes.

Earlier the BBC quoted the head of the Gambian electoral commission as saying President Yahya Jammeh will concede defeat to his major opponent, Adama Barrow in the presidential election.

The electoral umpire said it is unprecedented for a Gambian head of state to accept defeat before the announcement of the final results.

Jammeh had been trailing Barrow in partial results released by the electoral body in the last 24 hours.

Jammeh took power in a coup in 1994 in the tiny West African nation and has been in charge for all of 22 years.

His office is yet to release a statement since the results started trickling in.

A reporter with the UK's Guardian newspaper in Gambia, Ruth Mclean claims the concession video by Jammeh has already been recorded.

See her tweet below:

As Jammeh defeat is imminent, some Gambians have taken to the streets to celebrate the end of an era.

https://twitter.com/GambiaVoices/status/804629478467076096

Observers of African politics say Nigeria's Jonathan had set a good example for African leaders to follow after he conceded to incumbent Muhammadu Buhari as vote counting was still on.

Source: Legit.ng