The Gambia President Yahya Jammeh, who has ruled for 22 years, has conceded defeat to opposition leader Adama Barrow.
The chairman of the independent electoral commission Alieu Momar Njie told reporters on Friday ahead of the release of the results of Thursday’s presidential election.
He said; “It’s really unique that someone who has been ruling this country for so long has accepted defeat,”.
Jammeh was running for a fifth term with his Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), while Barrow ran for eight political groups who united for the first time to field a single candidate.
Opposition candidate Adama Barrow has taken an early lead in the Gambian presidential election after 75 per cent of the votes were counted, the electoral commission said on Friday.
Barrow, a businessman has won 22 out of 53 constituencies or 138,148 votes in Thursday’s presidential polls while incumbent Yayha Jammeh won 14 out of 53 constituencies or 126,587 votes.
Gambian state television told AFP that the 51-year-old head of state, who seized power in a coup in 1994, would make a statement later in the day to congratulate Barrow.
AFP
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