Nigerian leader serves a mediator in Gambia’s leadership crisis

Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari will be hosting four west African leaders to a meeting in Abuja on monday. The meeting is aimed at helping the leadership crisis in The Gambia.

It will also focus on ensuring peace and preserving democracy in The Gambia.

Politics Nigeria learnt that the immediate past President of Ghana, John Mahama and President Buhari who play the roles of Co-Mediator and Mediator respectively, 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 January 19.

The meeting in Abuja is following the one in Accra on the sidelines of the inauguration of that country’s President which expressed the readiness of the leaders of the sub-region to continue the pursuit of dialogue with the leaders of The Gambia.

The Presidents of Liberia and Senegal, the Vice President of Sierra-Leone and ex-President Mahama are expected at the meeting.

There are heavy tensions in the Gambia following Yaya Jammeh’s refusal to leave power after suffering a defeat at the election polls about a month ago. He remains adamant on not handing over power, claiming that the elections were ‘rigged’ to favour his opponent, Adama Barrow.