The Gambia: President Buhari, other West African leaders in closed door meeting

President Muhammadu Buhari and some ECOWAS leaders in Abuja

Some West African leaders including President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja met behind closed door to discuss the political impasse in The Gambia.

The Presidents of Liberia and Senegal, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Macky Sall as well as ex-Ghanaian President John Mahama are attending the meeting.

The representative of the United Nations to West Africa and The Sahel, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas is also attending the meeting while the Vice –President of Sierra Leone is still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.

The meeting which is being held at the new Presidential Banquet, Aso Villa, followed the one in Accra on the sidelines of the inauguration of President Nana Akufo-Addo, on Saturday.

The meeting of the West African leaders is aimed at avoiding violence and preserving democracy in The Gambia.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said the Abuja talks would discuss further steps to be taken.

“There are some disturbing information the (Nigerian) president (Muhammadu Buhari) is hearing which he needs to verify and the Abuja meeting will take a final decision,” he said, without elaborating.

The West African leaders at the Accra meeting expressed the readiness of the region to continue the pursuit of dialogue with the leaders of The Gambia.

At the last ECOWAS meeting in Abuja, President Buhari, and the former President of Ghana, John Mahama were appointed as Mediator and Co-Mediator to resolve the political impasse.

They have also been mandated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to ensure the safety of the President-elect, Adama Barrow and ensure a peaceful handover of power on Jan. 19.

After the meeting in Accra, Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said the regional bloc had no intention to deploy its standby military force in Gambia.

“We are committed to a peaceful mediation and a peaceful transfer of power in the Gambia … we will continue to pursue that for now,” Sirleaf, who chairs the 15-member body said.

Asked if the regional group would deploy a standby force soon, she said “no”, adding that ECOWAS was closely monitoring proceedings in Gambia’s Supreme Court where President Yahya Jammeh is challenging the poll result.

Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the top U.N. official in West Africa, also attended the closed-door meeting, which was the first official engagement by Ghana’s new President Nana Akufo-Addo, who was sworn in on Saturday.

Diplomats are concerned about the impasse over the poll.

The United States warned its citizens on Saturday against visiting Gambia, whose white beaches are a draw for tourists.

“The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens against travel to The Gambia because of the potential for civil unrest and violence in the near future,” the statement said.

Jammeh, a former coup leader, who has ruled Gambia for 22 years, initially accepted his defeat by opposition figure Adama Barrow in the Dec. 1 election.

But a week later reversed his position, vowing to hang on to power despite a wave of regional and international condemnation.