Tag: UN special representative for West Africa

Gambian Coalition Calls On Buhari To Resolve Political Logjam

Gambian Coalition Calls On Buhari To Resolve Political LogjamThe coalition of seven political parties that produced President-elect of The Gambia, Adama Barrow, earnestly looks up to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, to deploy his vast experience, alongside other African leaders, to resolve the political logjam in the tiny West African country.

This was revealed on Wednesday, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina.

Speaking with the media during the high-level ECOWAS /AU/UN Joint Mission to The Gambia on Tuesday, Hamad Bah, one of the coalition members, declared:

“We need the experience of President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria in many ways. Like President Jammeh, he is a former military officer, so he knows how the military thinks, and would be able to talk to him appropriately.

“Again, President Buhari was in the opposition in Nigeria for about 12 years, before he won election in 2015. So, he also knows how the opposition thinks. He can feel what we feel. We are quite glad that President Buhari is here, it gives us a lot of hope.”

Gambian Coalition Calls On Buhari To Resolve Political LogjamThe high-level team, in series of meetings that lasted the whole of Tuesday, met with President Yahya Jammeh, twice, conferred with Barrow, consulted with security chiefs, members of the diplomatic community, leadership of the electoral commission, and many other interest groups.

The consensus was that President Jammeh needed to respect the result of the December 1 election, which he had earlier accepted and congratulated the winner, only to recant a week later, calling for fresh polls “to be conducted by a God-fearing electoral commission”.

Gambian Coalition Calls On Buhari To Resolve Political Logjam
Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Sierra Leonean President, Ernest Bai Koroma

The Joint ECOWAS-AU-UN team, made of President Buhari, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia (current Chairperson of ECOWAS), President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, outgoing President John Mahama of Ghana, and Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, (UN Special Representative for West Africa), encouraged Jammeh to reconsider his rejection of the election results citing “tallying errors” and his call for new elections.

Jammeh was also urged to hand over power “within constitutional deadlines, and in accordance with electoral laws of The Gambia”.

President Johnson-Sirleaf said discussions on The Gambian impasse would continue, as ECOWAS leaders meet in Abuja this Saturday.

UN Urges Buhari To Sustain Gains In Fight Against Boko Haram

buhariThe United Nations (UN) has asked the incoming administration of the All Progressives Congress in Nigeria to sustain the gains recorded by the outgoing administration in the fight against the Boko Haram terrorists in the north-east.

A Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, made the statement on Friday when he met with Nigeria’s President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari.

Speaking to journalists shortly after meeting with General Buhari behind closed doors in Kaduna, the UN special representative for West Africa, Mr. Muhammad Ibn Chambas, said “sustaining the victory achieved so far in the last six weeks by the military over the insurgents will give room for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of persons and communities affected by the attacks”.

He also commended President Goodluck Jonathan for his statesmanship following the outcome of the March 28 Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Nigeria.

According to him, Nigeria’s elections of March 28 and April 11 have set a model for the African continent and other countries of the world.

Mr. Chambas also expressed Mr. Ki-moon’s personal admiration for President Jonathan’s exemplary leadership with regard to the conduct of the general elections in Nigeria and reaffirmed the UN’s readiness to support the on-going effort by Nigeria and other countries in West and Central Africa to end Boko Haram terrorist attacks against their citizens.

He assured Nigerians of the UN’s readiness to work closely with the incoming administration in implementing some of its economic policies, as captured in the APC campaign manifesto and also commended General Buhari for making security a top priority of his campaign manifesto.

On his part, the President-elect thanked the UN for the concern it showed during the election by supporting the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct free and fair elections.

He also pledged to work with the world body in the fight against Boko Haram.UN

On Thursday, President Jonathan appealed to the UN to focus more on helping Nigeria with the rehabilitation and reconstruction of persons and communities affected by terrorism in northern Nigeria rather than deploying an international force to the country.

President Jonathan made the appeal at a meeting with the special representatives of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and Central Africa, Mr. Chambas and Abdoulaye Bathily, who were also part of the delegation that met with General Buhari.

The team is on a tour of countries affected by the Boko Haram insurgency including Chad, Cameroon and Niger.