President Buhari off to Gambia to urge Yahya Jammeh to step down

President Muhammadu Buhari will travel to Gambia today, Tuesday as part of a high-level delegation trying to get Yahya Jammeh, Gambia's leader of the last 22 years, to accept his defeat in this month's election, a Nigerian government source told Reuters.

With Buhari on the trip are Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) chair and Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Sierra Leone leader Ernest Bai Koroma and outgoing Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama.

In a U-turn at the weekend, the temperamental Jammeh, who has ruled The Gambia with an iron fist for 22 years, rejected his stunning electoral defeat

Jammeh, who conceded victory to property developer  and opposition candidate Adama Barrow immediately after the election, changed his mind on Saturday. He alleged that the poll was marred by irregularities and demanded a new vote organised by a “God-fearing” electoral commission.