Opposition leaders Ousainou Darboe of United Democratic Party, Mamma Kandeh of Gambia Democratic Congress and Essa Faal an independent candidate have rejected the preliminary election results as it showed President Adama Barrow has secured a landslide victory.

The Independent Electoral Commission has already declared the results from 47 constituencies and will declare the final results in the coming hours. Thus far the incumbent is on course to seal a second term in office with a decisive victory. 

But in a joint media briefing late Sunday in Pipeline attended by the three opposition leaders, they claimed that there were irregularities in the voting process. 

Ousainou Darboe said: “The United Democratic Party and its partners, GFA and Honourable Marie Sock, the Gambia Democratic Party and parties that endorsed his candidature, Honourable Essa Faal have the following preliminary observations on the just concluded electoral process:

“One, considering that the Gambia has an electorate of approximately 900,000 with on-the-spot counting, we are concerned that there has been an inordinate delay in the announcement of results.

“Two, a number of issues have been raised by our agents and representatives in polling stations, centres and at the IEC headquarters.”

“As a result, the representatives of the aforementioned candidates at the IEC headquarters refused to endorse some of the results that were announced through the public media. 

“We are investigating this matter and our partners, to determine our future course of action. At this point in time, we reject the results announced thus far by the IEC,” Darboe added.

“We reserve the right to embark on any action the situation requires. To this end, all options are on the table. In the meantime, we urge all Gambians to remain calm and peaceful while we continue our investigations of these concerns,” he said.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba