Gambia: 'concerned' ECOWAS announce meeting with Jammeh

Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari will lead a delegation to the Gambia on Wednesday January 11, as part of efforts aimed at resolving the political impasse in the country.

Nigeria’s foreign minister, Geoffery Onyeama, at the end of an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders meeting in Abuja said his boss will lead a delegation to meet Yahya Jammeh ‘‘in a final effort at resolution.’‘

The meeting was attended by Chairperson of ECOWAS and Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, John Dramani Mahama of Ghana and Senegalese president, Macky Sall.

According to Onyeama, ECOWAS was concerned about happenings in the tiny West African nation especially with matters such as the closure of media organizations, arrests and a looming refugee situation.

Foreign Affairs Minister GeoffreyOnyeama speaks on the outcome of today's Mediation Meeting on the Gambian political crisis. pic.twitter.com/cWw9bcrLLv

— Govt of Nigeria (AsoRock) January 9, 2017

Buhari was weeks ago named mediator in the post election crisis by ECOWAS. His co-mediator is Ghana’s former president John Dramani Mahama. Jammeh has dismissed the regional bloc’s mediation effort describing it as biased and one dimensional.

Wednesday’s meeting will be the second meeting after an earlier one by Buhari, Sirleaf, Mahama and Sierra Leone’s Ernest Bai Koroma.

ECOWAS which has pledged to use mediation in resolution of the crisis, contrary to an earlier position of force if need, reiterated a stands to resolve the impasse in a manner that conforms to the Gambian constitution and respect for the will of the people.