ECOWAS Leaders Give Jammeh 4-Day Ultimatum To Cede Power

He has been warned to remain in Senegal for his safety.

Fagbenle said he is unable to preside over the injunction filed by President Yahya Jammeh because he was named in the petition.

Initially Jammeh accepted the results, but his political party filed a legal complaint against the electoral commission about a week after the election, citing voting irregularities.

The Freedom Newspaper in The Gambia says Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh personally phoned ECOWAS Chairperson President Sirleaf and aired a private phone conversation with the Liberian leader via speaker phone broadcast live on Gambian state television GRTS on late Sunday evening.

But Nigerian officials played down the planned military intervention by the sub-region’s power block last night, saying ECOWAS still hoped Jammeh would respect himself and leave office by tomorrow night.

“The only peaceful resolution of this impasse is through the courts”, he told the head of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Jammeh had initially congratulated Barrow after the latter was declared victor of the election but suddenly back-tracked and rejected the result of the poll.

There have been talks of a possible asylum or exile for Jammeh to an African country, in exchange for him stepping down.

“His Excellency the President reiterated his position and that of The Gambia Government”, said a statement for Gambia’s President on the State House website after Saturday’s meeting.

The Supreme Court of The Gambia postponed the hearing due to its lack of judges.

The Supreme Court has indicated it may not be able to sit again until May.

Meanwhile, Jammeh’s Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction has filed an injunction to stop Barrow’s inauguration, set for January 19.

Ms Sirleaf said that “we are going to work on this right away” and encouraged Mr Jammeh to confirm that he wanted peace and would follow the constitution.

Jammeh at first accepted his December 1 election loss, even making a telephone call to concede on national television, but then changed his mind and declared that “only Allah” can deny him victory.

And both ECOWAS and the AU have said he would cease to be leader of West Africa’s smallest country by January 20.

Already, thousands of people have begun fleeing Gambia amid growing signs that ECOWAS could invade the former British colony within days.