By Emma Ogbuehi
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday felicitated with Gambian President, Adama Barrow, over his reelection for another five-year term.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, Buhari also commended the country’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for conducting a successful election.
“President Muhammadu Buhari sends warm felicitations to President Adama Barrow of The Gambia over his re-election for a second term of five years.
“The President congratulates the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for dutifully handling the electoral process, while commending the Gambians for their high sense of civility, maturity and patriotism.
“President Buhari assures President Barrow and all Gambians of Nigeria’s commitment and partnership as they collectively work on making the country better and stronger for posterity,” the statement reads.
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Barrow comfortably won re-election, the electoral commission said on Sunday, though he may face a legal challenge from opposition candidates who rejected the results because of unspecified irregularities.
The vote was the first in 27 years without disgraced former President Yahya Jammeh, who was forced into exile in Equatorial Guinea after refusing to accept defeat to Barrow in 2016.
Jammeh’s despotic 22-year rule over the small West African nation of 2.5 million people, which began with a 1994 coup, was characterised by killings and torture of political opponents.
Saturday’s peaceful election was seen by many as a victory for democracy that helped draw a line under that troublesome period.
Once cowed by Jammeh’s omnipresent secret police, crowds of people hit the streets of Banjul on Sunday night to celebrate, or drove around in their cars, honking horns. Hundreds gathered in a park opposite the presidential palace to listen to Barrow speak.
“Democracy has taken its course,” Barrow told the cheering crowd after the results were announced. “I have been the lucky person to be chosen by you. I’ll use all the resources to make Gambia a better place for all.”
The first term of Adama Barrow provided a welcome change for many to Jammeh’s brutal tenure. But progress was hobbled by the coronavirus pandemic, which damaged an economy that relies heavily on tourism, as well as exports of peanuts and fish.
In the run-up to the election, Jammeh had tried to persuade supporters to vote for an opposition coalition in telephoned speeches that were relayed to campaign rallies.
But he failed to dent following of Adama Barrow. The president received around 53% of Saturday’s vote, far outstripping his nearest rival, political veteran Ousainou Darboe, who won about 28%.
As results came in on Sunday, representatives from all opposition parties signed off on nearly all the tally sheets read to the election commission.
But later in the day, Darboe and two other candidates, Mama Kandeh and Essa Mbye Faal, said they would not accept the results because the results took longer than expected and because of problems at polling stations.
They did not provide specifics or evidence of wrongdoing.
“We are concerned that there had been an inordinate delay in the announcement of results,” their statement said. “A number of issues have been raised by our party agents and representatives at the polling stations.”
The statement did not say what they would do now to upstage Adama Barrow’s victory, only stating that “all actions are on the table.”