- Title: West African leaders to visit Gambia president again amid crisis
- Date: 9th January 2017
- Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (JANUARY 9, 2017) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF NIGERIA'S FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER, GEOFFREY ONYEAMA STANDING AT PODIUM LIBERIAN PRESIDENT ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF WALKING AND STANDING BESIDE OTHERS VARIOUS OF SENEGALESE PRESIDENT MACKY SALL STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIA'S FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER, GEOFFREY ONYEAMA, SAYING: "They agreed on the determination to resolve the Gambian political crisis in a manner that at every step of the way conforms with the constitution of the Gambia and respects the will of the people of Gambia." LIBERIAN PRESIDENT ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIA'S FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER, GEOFFREY ONYEAMA, SAYING: "The meeting agreed that a certain number of the presidents will visit again in two days’ time, President Jammeh in the Gambia. And that again will comprise the mediator, President Buhari, together with the president of Liberia and hopefully the president of Sierra Leone and the co-mediator, the former president of Ghana as well as the president of the ECOWAS commission, the special representative of the United Nations and also a representative of the Africa Union." NIGERIAN OFFICIALS STANDING ONYEAMA STANDING AT PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIA'S FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER, GEOFFREY ONYEAMA, SAYING: "Nothing is ruled out, every option is there on the table and ECOWAS is prepared and determined to take advantage of any of the options that it feels is appropriate to enforce the constitutional process in Gambia." ONYEAMA, SALL AND OTHER LEADERS WALKING AWAY SIRLEAF GETTING INTO VEHICLE/NIGERIAN PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI AND AIDES STANDING VEHICLE DRIVING OFF GHANA'S FORMER PRESIDENT JOHN MAHAMA GETTING INTO VEHICLE/ BUHARI WATCHING BUHARI WAVING BUHARI WALKING WITH AIDES
- Embargoed: 24th January 2017 17:37
- Keywords: Gambia Nigeria president political crisis Gambian President Yahya Jammeh Adama Barrow
- Location: ABUJA, NIGERIA
- City: ABUJA, NIGERIA
- Country: Gambia
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015YD1RUV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The leaders of Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia will visit Gambian President Yahya Jammeh on Wednesday (January 11) in a second attempt to press him to hand over power, Nigeria's Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said on Monday (January 9).
Jammeh, in power since a 1994 coup, lost a Dec. 1 election to businessman Adama Barrow, but the authoritarian leader has contested the results in a move condemned at home and abroad.
An ECOWAS delegation led by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf visited Gambia in December but failed to persuade Jammeh to step down. The West African bloc has since said it would take all necessary steps to uphold the result of the election and had put troops on standby.
Jammeh called the move "a declaration of war."
"They agreed on the determination to resolve the Gambian political crisis in a manner that at every step of the way conforms with the constitution of the Gambia and respects the will of the people of Gambia," Onyeama said after a one-day ECOWAS summit in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
"Nothing is ruled out, every option is there on the table and ECOWAS is prepared and determined to take advantage of any of the option that it feels is appropriate to enforce the constitutional process in Gambia," he said, adding that ECOWAS was concerned about the closure of radio stations by authorities and arrests since the vote.
The former president of Ghana, John Mahama, would also attend along with representatives of the United Nations and African Union.
Gambian authorities shut a fourth popular radio station late on Sunday (January 8), staff said on Monday, further strangling opposition voices amid a post-election clampdown.
Jammeh initially conceded defeat in the poll, which was seen as a triumph for democracy in the country of 1.8 million. But a week later he filed a petition with the Supreme Court due to irregularities in the vote count, drawing condemnation from local opponents and foreign powers.
It is not clear how the case will be heard before Jan. 18, when Jammeh's mandate will run out. Judges from Nigeria and Sierra Leone who were expected to preside over the case did not arrive in court on Monday as expected.
Adama Barrow has said his inauguration will go ahead regardless of the Supreme Court case. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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