It has been revealed that it was Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who authorised his private aircraft to be used to fly former President Yahya Jammeh out of Gambia.After days of stand-off, former President Yahya Jand agreeing to leave and save The Gambia from a major crisis, Jammeh was confronted by big challenge – how to fly out.
Tinubu’s VP-CBT Falcon Jet had been with President Conde, who is a close friend of the leading politician. It was not until late on Saturday night that Jammeh agreed to go. Sources said Tinubu was contacted to allow the use of his jet to fly Jammeh out of Banjul.
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.
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.
