Osinbajo gets brief on the Gambia, others

he Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Friday received updates and briefs on the Gambian situation and other issues in the country from a number of cabinet ministers.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande disclosed this in a post published on his twitter handle on Friday.

According to Mr Akande, “VP Osinbajo on return to Abuja receives update and briefings on the situation in the Gambia and also briefings from a number of cabinet ministers.’’

Mr. Akande had earlier tweeted that “Work of change’’ had always been on Prof. Osinbajo’s mind.

He said Prof. Osinbajo had returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday night to attend to some engagements in Ibadan, on Friday morning.

According to Akande’s earlier post, “VP Osinbajo returned to Abuja last night and went to Ibadan on Friday morning for some engagements and returned to office. Work of change always in mind.’’

Nigeria had deployed military personnel to The Gambia as part of ECOWAS Standby Force to protect the people and maintain sub-regional peace and security.

The minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali had in a statement on Thursday explained government’s decision to deploy troops to the West African country.

According to the statement, “The ECOWAS unanimously decided in to deploy its Standby Force in the Gambia with the Nigerian military participation.

“The aim is to implement the decision of ECOWAS leaders in upholding the result of the presidential election held in The Gambia on Dec. 1, 2016”, Dan-Ali said.

He recalled that ECOWAS leaders led by President Muhammadu Buhari made spirited efforts to resolve the impasse amicably but all diplomatic efforts by the ECOWAS and other world leaders were rebuffed by outgoing President Yahya Jammeh.