President Jammeh must leave office Jan 18, 2017, says ECOWAS

President Muhammadu Buhari; ECOWAS Chairman / Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Chairman ECOWAS Commission, Marcel de Souza at the Fiftieth Ordinary Session of the EOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in Abuja on Saturday

ECOWAS leaders have resolved not to recognise President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia as president of the Gambia beyond January 18, 2017.

The leaders at the 50th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja Saturday resolved to attend the inauguration of the Gambian President-Elect, Adama Barrow, on Jan. 18, 2017, in conformity with the Gambian constitution.

According to a communiqué presented at the end of the summit the out-going President Yahya Jammeh must uphold the result of the December 1, 2016 presidential election in the country and must guarantee the safety and protection of the President-elect.

“The Authority calls on President Yahya Jammeh to accept the result of the polls and refrain from any action likely to compromise the transition and peaceful transfer of power to the President-Elect,’’ the communiqué added.

The Authority also appointed President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria and his Ghanaian counterpart as Chief Mediator and Co-Mediator respectively in the Gambian political impasse.

Four of the  ECOWAS leaders, Muhammadu Buhari, John Mahama of Ghana, Ernest Koroma of Sierra Leone and ECOWAS chairperson, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, visited Banjul on Tuesday to persuade Jammeh to accept the result of the election.

Although President Buhari said Jammeh was receptive to their discussions, his obduracy in accepting the result of the poll became a major issue at the ECOWAS talks in Abuja Saturday.