War in Gambia: Buhari to host West African leaders in Abuja

War in Gambia: Buhari to host West African leaders in Abuja

- President Muhammadu Buhari is to meet with leaders of West African States in Abuja on Monday, January 9

- The meeting is as regards friction from the recent presidential election in Gambia

- There are fears that the chaos in Gambia might degenerate into a war, and the West African leaders are trying to kill that fire

President Muhammadu Buhari and other West African leaders will on Monday in Abuja continue their discussion on the political impasse in The Gambia

Following the possibility that a civil war might break out in Gambia, leaders of West African countries are to hold a crucial meeting which will be hosted by President Muhammadu Buhari.

War in Gambia: Buhari to host West African leaders in Abuja
War in Gambia: Buhari to host West African leaders in Abuja

President Buhari made disclosure of the meeting while briefing pressmen at the end of a closed door meeting the leaders had in Accra, Ghana on Saturday, January 7, shortly after the inauguration of President Nana Akufo-Ado.

“The meeting continues in Abuja on Monday,” the President simply said in a news item on Nigerian Television Authority.

READ ALSO: What Gambia’s President told Buhari

Also, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, confirmed to reporters that the meeting will continue on Monday, January 9.

According to The Punch, Onyema disclosed that there are some disturbing development emanating from the West African country, hence the need for the leaders to meet again in Abuja.

The political impasse in The Gambia started when President Yahya Jammeh who had earlier conceded defeat in the country’s presidential election after a 22-year rule later recanted, asking for fresh polls to be conducted by a “god-fearing and independent electoral commission.”

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which has insisted that Jammeh must quit the stage for the President-elect, Adama Barrow, on January 19, 2017 had at its summit in Abuja on December 17 chosen Buhari as the Mediator for The Gambia with Ghana’s outgoing President, Mr. John Mahama, as Co-Mediator.

Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, had on Friday told reporters on Friday that the leaders would meet on Saturday after Akudo-Ado’s inauguration on the matter.

Shehu had said the Saturday’s meeting was critical to the resolution of the crisis in the country.

He said: “President Buhari and other African leaders will on Saturday be attending the inauguration of Nana Akufo-Addo as the President of Ghana.

War in Gambia: Buhari to host West African leaders in Abuja
Jammeh told Gambia state television that Buhari’s visit alongside other heads of states from West Africa was a mere formality.

“Another important thing is that shortly after the inauguration, the leaders will be meeting on the crisis in The Gambia.

“A major decision on the impasse is expected to be taken at that all-important meeting.

“President Buhari is the Chief Mediator is the crisis and he is committed to ensuring that the logjam is resolved.”

Gambia president Yahyah Jammeh has rejected all the entreaties made by the ECOWAS mediation team led by President Muhammadu Buhari that he should step down as ruler of the West African country.

Thisday reports that Jammeh told Gambia state television that Buhari’s visit alongside other heads of states from West Africa was a mere formality.

He noted that the mediators had already made up their mind that he must step down even before meeting him. For this reason among others, he said, he would not step down.

Source: Legit.ng

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