(From L) Sierra Leon’s President Ernest Bai Koroma, President of ECOWAS official Marcel Alain de Souza, Liberian President and Ecowas Chairperson Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari (R) and Guinean President Alpha Conde (C) pose during the 50th summit of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, on December 17, 2016. West African leaders have called for a swift resolution of the political impasse in The Gambia after disputed elections in which long-term president Yahya Jammeh is refusing to concede defeat. The appeal came at the 50th summit of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Nigeria, attended by 11 heads of state but without the leaders of four members including The Gambia. PHOTO: Pius Utomi EKPEI / AFP
Four West African leaders, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, Macky sall of Senegal, Ellen Johnson-sirleaf of Liberia and ex-Ghanaian leader, John Mahama, met in Abuja today to discuss the resolution of the political impasse in The Gambia.
There, the incumbent President Yahya Jammeh has refused to accept the result of the 1 December election which he lost to Adama Barrow, a real estate businessman.
The representative of the United Nations to West Africa and The Sahel, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas also attended the meeting while the Vice –President of Sierra Leone was being awaited.
The meeting at the new Presidential Banquet, Aso Villa, followed the one in Accra on the sidelines of the inauguration of President a Akufo-Addo, on Saturday.
The meeting of the West African leaders is aimed at avoiding violence and preserving democracy in The Gambia.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama stated the Abuja talks would discuss further steps to be taken.