Banjul: Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has conceded defeat to the opposition, the chairman of the electoral commission said yesterday, bringing a dramatic end to his 22 years in power.
"It's really unique that someone who has been ruling this country for so long has accepted defeat," Alieu Momar Njie said ahead of the results of Thursday's presidential election.
Jammeh, who once said he would govern for a billion years if God willed it, was attempting to win a fifth term with his Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC).
Gambian state television said that Jammeh would make a statement later in the day to congratulate opposition leader Adama Barrow, 51.
Barrow, a previously unknown businessman, was chosen as the opposition flag bearer by a group of political parties who have joined forces for the first time and won unprecedented popular support.
If the concession is confirmed, Barrow will likely decide to serve a three-year term at the head of a transition reform government in the tiny former British colony with pristine beaches that occupies a narrow sliver of land surrounded by French-speaking Senegal.
Jammeh campaign manager Yankuba Colley said he was not aware of the electoral commission chairman's statement but said he believed the president would step down if the Gambian people wanted it.
"When the Gambians make their verdict, he is someone who is faithful," he said.
"It is a difficult result but the man I know will accept whatever comes."
Barrow's camp confirmed the Independent Electoral Commission statement.
