Barrow Reveals Buhari’s Exact Statement That Sent Jammeh Into Exile

President Adama Barrow has revealed the single statement made by President Muhammadu Buhari that solved the political impasse in the Gambia and made Yahya Jammeh cede power in 2016.

Barrow, who met with Buhari on Tuesday at the State House in Abuja, said what the president told Jammeh “changed everything” for the Gambia.

Recall that ex-President Jammeh had refused to relinquish power after he lost in Gambia’s December 2016 presidential election.

Speaking, however, to State House correspondent after meeting with Buhari, Barrow said: “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 (Jammeh) wants to challenge the sub-region, he is welcome”.

“This was his words and that made a big difference as a leader. And that leadership role was very important not just for The Gambians but for Africa because the problem was an African problem with an African solution”.

On why he visited Nigeria, Barrow said, “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.

“If you want to thank a farmer for a good job, you have to visit him at his farm and that is why we are here,” he said.

On the “deal” with Jammeh, he said: “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 to assume office.

“This was the deal, he accepted to go into exile which we couldn’t guarantee his security. This was the deal,” he said.