ECOWAS held a Summit in Abuja that was chaired by President Buhari of Nigeria to seek a swift resolution to the political impasse in The Gambia caused by the refusal of the Gambian dictator's refusal to step down following the electoral defeat he suffered at the hands of President-elect Adama Barrow.
Yaya Jammeh, who initially conceded defeat and assured a smooth transfer of power only to renege on the promise a few days later, claiming that the vote was rigged plunged the country into a political turmoil that led to an ECOWAS fact finding mission that visited the capital city of Banjul to discuss the matter with all parties concerned.
The Abuja Summit was a follow-up to the fact finding mission which was the subject of a blog post which you can find here.
The Abuja Summit decided that President-elect Adama Barrow will be Inaugurated on Thursday, 19th January 2017, All of the ECOWAS Heads of State have also agreed to attend the Swearing-In of the new Gambian President, His Excellency Adama Barrow.
The Summit hopes that Yaya Jammeh will voluntarily step down to ensure a smooth transition on the 19th January to usher in a new administration under the presidency of Adama Barrow. If Jammeh fails to give way, the ECOWAS Summit has authorized a military intervention force to be led by Senegal.
An implementation committee to supervise the process has been set up by the ECOWAS Summit to be chaired by the Nigerian President and co-chaired by the outgoing president of Ghana.
