Skip to main content

Buhari, Bai Koroma to hold talks with Jammeh

Yahya Jammeh, Gambia’s ex president

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday arrived in Banjul, Gambia, to meet with President Yahya Jammeh, who lost the presidential election penultimate week.

The information is in a statement in Abuja by Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the president.

Adesina stated that the Nigerian leader, who arrived the Gambia with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, the current Chairperson of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, were received at the airport by Gambia’s Vice-President, Isatou Njie-Saidy.

President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra-Leone was also on the visit.

Adesina said the out-going President of Ghana, John Mahama, who had earlier arrived Banjul, would also join the West African leaders to meet President Jammeh at the CoCo Ocean Resort and Spa, Banjul.

President Buhari and the ECOWAS leaders would discuss the ensuing impasse in The Gambia with President Jammeh, and insist on the sanctity of the electoral process, and respect for the wishes of the people.

“They would also ask their host to respect the Constitution of The Gambia and to
maintain the inviolability of an electoral process that had been concluded, and in which he had admitted defeat, and congratulated his main challenger.

“The leaders are also scheduled to meet the President-elect, Adama Barrow.”

President Jammeh had earlier conceded defeat in the election, after a 22-year rule, but recanted a week later, asking for fresh polls to be conducted by a “god-fearing and independent electoral commission.”

President Buhari is expected back in Abuja later today.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Court grants Fani-Kayode N50m bail

Fani-kayode sandwiched by EFCC officials Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday granted a N50m bail to former spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N26m. Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant in the fresh charges numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016. The EFCC accused the defendant of diverting 26 million Naira allegedly received from the ONSA while Sambo Dasuki was in office. The anti-graft agency also accused him of handling the said N26 million without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The embattled former minister is already facing 17-count charge of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court, along with a former Finance Minister; Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm; Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited. They were charg...

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...

Man docked for defiling 9-year-old girl

magistrate-court A 33-year-old man, Godwin Otobo, was on Monday docked at a Surulere Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.For allegedly defiling a nine-year-old girl, ‎Otobo, who lives at No. 10, Borrow Pit St., Sangotedo-Ajah area of Lagos, was said to have defiled the underage girl whose parents also reside in the same compound. The Prosecutor, Sgt. Anthonia Osayande, told the court that the accused committed the offence at about 9.00 p.m. sometimes in September. “The accused defiled the girl in the night when she was fetching water.‎ “The offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011,’’ Osayande told the court. The accused pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of defilement. Ruling on a bail application filed by the accused, Chief Magistrate Ipaye Nwachukwu, granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum. She said one of the sureties must be a property owner in Lagos State, while the other must be a civil servant on grade...