W African leaders push to resolve Gambia poll row

Abuja: West African leaders called yesterday 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.
Opposition leader Adama Barrow was declared winner of the December 1 polls and Jammeh initially conceded defeat, only to reverse his decision a week later, condemning "unacceptable errors" by election authorities and calling for a new vote.
Yesterday, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the current ECOWAS chairperson, said in Abuja that the regional economic group would push for prompt resolution of the crisis.
"It is now important that the Authority, at this summit, considers recommended measures to bring this matter to successful conclusion before January 19, the constituted date when the mandate of the incumbent president expires," Sirleaf said.
Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the UN top envoy for West Africa, said the global body would support efforts to resolve the election logjam.
"The UN remains concerned by some of the worrisome developments that occurred during the post election period in The Gambia," Chambas said after the summit was declared open by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
These included "in particular, the seizure of the headquarters of the Independent Electoral Commission by the Gambian military," he added.
On Tuesday, Sirleaf led a heavyweight delegation to The Gambia to seek to broker a deal, meeting both Jammeh and Barrow. But Sirleaf announced there was no deal.
The situation has been further complicated by Jammeh's political party filing a legal challenge against the result at the Supreme Court.
The African Union, the UN, local and international rights groups have asked Jammeh  to step down.