He said some figures in the results had been transposed and that voter turnout had been suppressed.

“After I accepted the results without any query, the IEC called all parties at the headquarters and told them that there was error. That is not acceptable,” he said.

He added: “Our investigations reveal that in some cases voters were told that the opposition has already won and that there was no need for them to vote and, out of anger, some of them returned home. I hereby reject the results in totality,” he said in his address that aired late Friday. …

Under Jammeh’s rule, the country surrounded almost entirely by Senegal has become notorious for its abysmal human rights record as well as the president’s erratic behavior. …

He also has increasingly isolated Gambia, whose economy has long been dependent on tourism. In 2013 he exited the Commonwealth, a group made up mostly of former British colonies, branding it a “neo-colonial institution.” And in October, Jammeh said Gambia would leave the International Criminal Court, which he dismissed as the ‘International Caucasian Court.’”