“When we met in Mali, he (Buhari) took a decision as a leader in a closed door meeting, he made one statement that changed everything, that if the Gambian President wants to challenge the subregion, he is welcome. This was his words and that made a big difference as a leader, said Barrow at the end of a closed door meeting with President Buhari in Abuja.
“And that leadership role was very important not just for The Gambia but for Africa because the problem was an Africa problem with an Africa solution, Barrow said.
” ECOWAS was involved, UNDP and the international community was involved to mediate and this mediation, Nigeria was involved and Liberia as the chair was involved, the Guinean President and the Mauritanian President were also involved. the Guinean President and the Mauritanian President were physically on the ground, for him to accept the will of the people, exit to allow us assume office. This was the deal, he accepted to go on exile which we couldn’t guarantee his security. This was the deal.”
The 51-year-old, Barrow, a property developer who never held elected office before, won a December 1st, 2016 election to end the rule of longtime leader Jammeh.
He said, “My visit is very important to us. We have always wanted to say thank you when Nigeria gave us all the support during and after the impasse. Nigeria has been supporting The Gambia for a long time in different areas like technical assistance in the area of education, judiciary. We are really happy to come.
President Buhari on his part said Nigeria and The Gambia will raise a team that will draw up a political programme that will complement each other on development.
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