Nigerian legislators vote to give asylum to Gambia's president ~ Zeniths Blog

Nigerian legislators vote to give asylum to Gambia's president

– Nigerian legislators voted in favour of offering asylum to President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia when he leaves office

– The legislators believe the offer to give Jammeh asylum would “strengthen the hand” of President Muhammadu Buhari in negotiating with Jammeh

– President Yahyah Jammeh who has ruled Gambia for 22 years is currently reluctant to accept defeat after being voted out in a presidential election conducted in Gambia

The Nigerian legislators have voted in favor of protecting Gambia’s outgoing president after he stepped down from office.

The legislators voted on Thursday, January 12 to offer asylum to Gambia’s longtime president, who is refusing to cede power after losing elections.

Nigerian legislator voted in favour of asylum for Gambia’s president

According to News24, legislators confirmed the vote in favor of authorizing Nigeria’s President Buhari to offer safe haven to President Yahya Jammeh in order to convince him to step down.

READ ALSO: Abba Kyari reportedly at logger heads with Buhari’s ministers

Sani Zoro Mohammed, the legislator who sponsored the motion to give Yahya jammeh asylum in Nigeria said the offer would “strengthen the hand” of President Muhammadu Buhari in negotiating with Jammeh, said Sani Zoro Mohammed.

On Friday, January 13, President Buhari will head a delegation of the Economic

Community of West African states to Gambia to try to negotiate a diplomatic resolution to the crisis, seen as a test of democracy in a region once populated by military dictators.

The West Africa regional bloc also has a military force on standby to intervene if Jammeh does not step down when his mandate expires January 19.

Jammeh took power in a coup in 1994 and is accused of gross rights violations including arbitrary detentions, torture and the killings of opponents in the tiny country of 1.9 million people.

READ ALSO: Fayose thanks Senate for passing no confidence vote against Buhari

Meanwhile, Gambia’s President, Yahya Jammeh has criticised international pressure for him to step down as he announced the appointment of a mediator to help resolve the country’s political impasse.

In an address on national television late on Tuesday, January 10, Jammeh lashed out “at unprecedented level of foreign interference in our elections and internal affairs and also a sustained smear campaign, propaganda and misinformation.”