TheCable

The coalition of seven political parties that produced Adama Barrow, president-elect of Gambia, has enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy his vast experience, alongside other African leaders to resolve the political logjam in Gambia.

A statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, the coalition made the call while speaking with reporters during the high-level ECOWAS /AU/UN joint mission to The Gambia on Tuesday.

Adesina said a member of the coalition, Hamad Bah, made the call on behalf of the political parties.

Bah reportedly said the people of Gambia needed the experience of Buhari in addressing the socio-political challenges facing their country.

“We need the experience of President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria in many ways. Like President Jammeh, he is a former military officer, so he knows how the military thinks, and would be able to talk to him appropriately,” he said.

“Again, President Buhari was in the opposition in Nigeria for about 12 years, before he won election in 2015.

“So, he also knows how the opposition thinks. He can feel what we feel. We are quite glad that President Buhari is here, it gives us a lot of hope.”

On the high-level visitation team, Adesina said: “In series of meetings that lasted the whole of Tuesday, the team met with President Yahya Jammeh, twice, conferred with Barrow, consulted with security chiefs, members of the diplomatic community, leadership of the electoral commission, and many other interest groups.

“The consensus was that President Jammeh needed to respect the result of the December 1 election, which he had earlier accepted, congratulated the winner, only to recant a week later, calling for fresh polls `to be conducted by a God-fearing electoral commission.”

Apart from Buhari, the Joint ECOWAS-AU-UN team was made up of Presidents Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia), Ernest Bai Koroma (Sierra Leone) John Mahama (Ghana), and Mohammed Ibn Chambas, (UN Special Representative for West Africa).

The team encouraged Jammeh to reconsider his rejection of the election results.

“Jammeh was also urged to hand over power within constitutional deadlines, and in accordance with electoral laws of The Gambia,” according to Adesina.

“President Johnson-Sirleaf said discussions on The Gambian impasse would continue, as ECOWAS leaders meet in Abuja on Saturday.”