Jammeh ‘files’ suit to stop Barrow’s inauguration

President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia says he has filed an injunction to prevent Adama Barrow from taking office on Thursday.

Jammeh said the January 19 date for his mandate to come to an end is not “carved in stone”.

He wants the supreme court to hear his suit against the election commission before he considers leaving office.

Jammeh has called President Ellen Sirleaf of Liberia and chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that he would like her to contact her colleagues so that the pending election petition he filed before the Gambian supreme court could be adjudicated.

He maintained that the so called inauguration date for Barrow cannot take place until his election petition is decided by the court.

The Gambian leader said his argument is premised on the Gambian constitution. He also reaffirmed his commitment to uphold and observe the rule of law during the unsettled political impasse threatening Gambia’s fragile peace.

Jammeh said his request for judges should be communicated to the ECOWAS body by Sirleaf. He also invoked the Gambian constitution to back up his assertion.