As the trials of The Gambia's president, Yahya Jammeh continues to hit hard, Nigeria's House of Representatives has set out to help him.
Yahya Jammeh
The House of Representatives on Wednesday admitted a motion seeking a safe haven for outgoing President of The Gambia, Mr. Yahya Jammeh, in Nigeria.
According to The Punch, the motion will be formally debated on Thursday (today).
A member from Jigawa State and former National President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Mr. Sani Zoro, moved the motion under matters of urgent public importance.
The session was presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.
However, the motion would have been rejected outright but for Dogara, who ruled that it should be admitted for debate.
Dogara had advised members to wait till Thursday’s debate (today) to either reject or accept the motion by passing a resolution on the matter.
The kernel of the motion, according to Zoro, is that Jammeh can come to Nigeria to rest, where his safety can be guaranteed while he is out of office.
He said this was part of efforts to ensure that there was a crisis-free transition in The Gambia, following the December 1, 2016, presidential poll, which Jammeh lost.
He was defeated by Mr. Adama Barrow, who is waiting to take over from him.
Jammeh had initially accepted defeat by congratulating Barrow.
However, he later reneged on his promise to hand over power, opting instead to contest the outcome of the result in court.
Some leaders of the sub-regional body, ECOWAS, including President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, have been mediating in what appears to be a looming political crisis in The Gambia and how to avert it.
Only on Tuesday, the House, through the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, had insisted that Jammeh should step down.
It also stated that as a parliament in the West African subregion, it would support the position of the leaders on Jammeh.
Dogara had stated, “We wish to commend the President of Nigeria and indeed the leadership of ECOWAS for their principled stance on the matter.”