BY OUR GAMBIA CORRESPONDENT.
Gambia President Yahya Jammeh has filed a petition to the supreme court to challenge the presidential results which he lost to challenger Adama Barrow.
The petition said the the electoral commission had “failed to properly collate the results” of the election, which Jammeh lost to challenger Adama Barrow.
It followed the president of the electoral commission being thrown out of his office shortly before the leaders’ delegation arrived in the country.
Gambia’s security forces entered the building of the Independent Electoral Commission on Tuesday morning, instructed its chairman to leave and have since barred other employees from entering, the offices.
The military came to my office and said I am not to touch anything and told me to leave,” Njai said, adding, “I am worried for my safety.”
The raid comes amid increasing disagreement about the result of the recent presidential election. President Yahya Jammeh, who reportedly gained 208,487 votes or about 40 percent, had initially conceded defeat against Adama Barrow, who obtained 222,708 votes or over 43.3 percent. However, Jammeh later changed his mind after the commission revised some results.
Njai rejected Jammeh’s worry about the validity of the revised outcome. He said Jammeh would go nowhere by challenging the outcome.
“The election results were correct, nothing will change that,” Njai said, adding, “If it goes to court, we can prove every vote cast. The results are there for everyone to see.”
Heads of state from several countries in the West African region began arriving in the Gambia on Tuesday in a bid to persuade Jammeh to relinquish power.
Marcel de Souza, the president of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), who leads the initiative to make Jammeh leave office, said ECOWAS may even be forced to send troops to the Gambia.
