Gambia President, Yahya Jammeh Concedes Defeat

Yahya Jammeh.

Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh, who vowed to rule the country for "a billion years", has conceded defeat to the opposition, Adama Barrow, after ruling the West African country for 22 years.

The chairman of the country’s Independent Electoral Commission, Alieu Momar Njie disclosed this on Friday.

Speaking to newsmen ahead of the announcement of the results of Thursday’s presidential election Njie said, “It’s really unique that someone who has been ruling this country for so long has accepted defeat.”

Jammeh was in for a fifth term with his party, Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction, APRC, while Barrow ran for eight political groups who united for the first time to field a single candidate.

Announcing the results of the election on Friday, Gambia's election commission chair, Alieu Njie, said Adama Barrow won theGambian presidential poll with 263,515 votes, while President Yahya Jammeh polled 212,009 votes.

Mama Kandeh, the third candidate in the running, came third with 102,969 votes.