Move comes as African heads of state try to convince Yahya Jammeh to relinquish power after losing presidential election

Yahya Jammeh, the autocratic ruler of the Gambia, has moved to resist his presidential election defeat, sending armed soldiers to take control of the electoral commission headquarters and filing a petition to the supreme court as a delegation of African leaders urged him to stand down.

The petition said the electoral commission had “failed to properly collate the results” of the election, which Jammeh lost to challenger Adama Barrow.

It came after the president of the electoral commission was thrown out of his office shortly before the leaders’ delegation arrived in the country.

“I got there by quarter to eight and when I was going up to my office, one of the cleaners told me they were not allowed in,” Alieu Njie told the Guardian. “I went to my office and a military man came and said I was not allowed to touch anything, so I took my briefcase, got into my car and went home.



“Let’s just hope and pray that now these heads of state are here President Jammeh will decide to step down. The only legal way is for him to step down.”



The Gambia's president urged to accept defeat by new government Read more

Making up the most important delegation ever to descend on the Gambia, the presidents of Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ghana flew in on Tuesday to meet Jammeh, who has ruled an increasingly isolated nation for 22 years and last week vowed to stay on despite losing the presidential election.



Asked if Jammeh had been receptive after their hour-long closed-doors meeting, the Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, said that no deal had been reached.

“We come to help Gambians find their way through a transition. That’s not something that can happen in one day. It’s something that one has to work on.”

Sirleaf said that Jammeh had assured the delegation that “peace and stability will remain in the Gambia, as the transition process proceeds to a conclusion”.





Until now, Jammeh has refused to see dignitaries who have come to the Gambia to try to mediate between him and president-elect Barrow, a former estate agent who led a coalition of eight opposition parties to defeat Jammeh, sparking celebrations in the west African country.



Jammeh surprised many when he initially accepted defeat in a televised call to Barrow on 2 December but he made an extraordinary televised U-turn, in which he said that the election had been “fraudulent and unacceptable”, and then deployed extra troops on the streets.

Adama Barrow, the president-elect, told the Guardian he was “not so disappointed” that there was no deal yet. “These are very important heads of state from Africa, and in their countries they will always accept the will of the people. I think he will listen to them,” he said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gambian president-elect Adama Barrow in Banjul. Photograph: Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters

“The best thing is for [Jammeh] is to accept the reality – that he has lost the elections.”



On Monday, the chairman of the regional west African organisation the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) said that if persuasion did not work, it would consider sending in the military.

“We have to use persuasion to get Mr Jammeh to respect the principles,” Marcel de Souza told RFI. “After that, we will see about putting on pressure via the UN security council, the AU [African Union] and Ecowas in order to avoid conflict.



“And if none of that works, we will consider more draconian options. We have done it in the past. We currently have troops in Guinea-Bissau. We have had troops in Mali. And therefore it is a conceivable solution.”



Sirleaf did not respond to questions about a possible military intervention, saying only: “We hope that the will of the people will prevail.”

Although the country’s chief of defence staff, Ousman Badjie, said last week he would support Barrow, he told the Guardian on Tuesday that Jammeh paid his salary, so he had the backing of the armed forces.



“I’m supporting the commander-in-chief of the Republic of the Gambia – of the Islamic Republic of the Gambia – whosoever it may be,” he said.

“My job is security, to make sure this country is peaceful and is secure, that is my primary role and that is what I’m paid for. As we speak now, I’m paid by the government of the day, that is Yahya Jammeh’s government. He’s my commander-in-chief as we speak now. I have only one commander-in-chief as we speak.”

Hamat Bah, one of the party leaders in Barrow’s coalition, said he thought Buhari had the best chance of changing Jammeh’s mind, as he was a military man.



“Remember, President Buhari is from the military. Jammeh is from the military. I think that will make a difference,” he said.