The gesture was in furtherance of the reconciliatory efforts of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, in the country where Jammeh’s refusal to relinquish power led to political crisis.
It was learnt that upon being contacted for the use of the aircraft, Tinubu, who was in Conakry at that time, agreed on condition that it should only be used for the purpose in order to restore peace and democracy in the country. The VP-CBT Falcon jet, which had been with Guinean President, Alpa Conde for days, was stationed in Banjul to ferry Jammeh out of the country after 22 years in power.
We further gathered that Tinubu is a personal friend of President Conde. Conde and Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz had spent much of Friday in Banjul persuading Jammeh to leave power. A BBC report on Saturday at 10.30 pm said the plane had taken off for Guinea with Jammeh, his family and President Conde on board. The former Gambian leader was flown to Conakry where he would temporarily stay before leaving for Equatorial Guinea where he would live in exile. West African leaders did not agree to immunity for Jammeh during negotiations that convinced Gambia’s longtime ruler to flee into exile, Senegal’s foreign minister said on Sunday. Jammeh, who is accused of serious rights violations, led his country for 22 years but refused to accept defeat in a December election. He flew out of the capital Banjul late on Saturday as a regional military force was poised to remove him.
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