ECOWAS Mediation Team Talks with Yahya Jammeh

The high level meeting between the ECOWAS mediation team led by President Muhammadu Buhari and President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia has ended in Banjul.

The meeting which lasted about two hours was held behind closed doors at the Presidential Palace amidst tight security.

The Nigerian leader and his Liberian counterpart Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former Ghanaian president John Dramani Mahama used the crucial moment to encourage President Jammeh to reconsider his rejection of the election result and work towards upholding the result for peace, stability and democratic order in The Gambia.

Respecting the wishes of the Gambian electorate freely expressed through the ballot box, the ECOWAS mediators believe, is the surest pathway towards resolving the political logjam in the West African country.

President Yahya Jammeh who ruled the country for over 22 years lost his Re-election bid on December one last year, conceded victory to the President Elect Adama Barrow but later changed his mind thereby creating tension and uncertainty in the country.

Details of the mediation talks with him were not made public by the ECOWAS leaders at the time of filing this report.

Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama later joined President Sirleaf of Liberia and the former Ghanaian leader John Mahama to meet separately with the President elect Adama Barrow, the Chief Justice of The Gambia and the Independent Electoral Commission officials as President Buhari left for Bamako, Mali on another official engagement.