Who is Adama Barrow? Gambia’s new president?

Reports from Gambia where elections were held yesterday (Thursday 1/12/2016), suggest that opposition leader, Adama Barrow has defeated incumbent President Yahya Jammeh, who has been president since 1994.

With most of the votes counted, Barrow is leading.

At the time of filing this report, the head of Gambia’s electoral commission reportedly told journalists thta Jammeh is to concede defeat in Thursday’s election. 

He said it was unprecedented for a Gambian head of state to accept defeat before the announcement of the final results. 

Meanwhile, Gambia’s minister of external affairs and the head of the police has addressed the nation calling for calm.

Updated: The head of The Gambia’s electoral commission has declared opposition candidate Adama Barrow as the winner of the 2016 presidential election.

The results were:

Adama Barrow – 263,515 votes

Yahya Jammeh – 212,099 votes

Barrow says he is still awaiting a phone call from Jammeh, who is yet to concede defeat or speak on the election result.

Below is what Naijalog knows of the unknown Barrow, president-in-waiting of Gambia , if Jammeh indeed concedes victory 

• Born in 1965 in small village near the market town of Basse, eastern Gambia 
• Moved to London in the 2000s, reportedly working as a security guard at Argos department store in north London while he completed his studies.
• Returned to Gambia in 2006 to set up his own property company
• 51-year-old wins nomination to lead coalition of seven opposition parties against President Jammeh
• Criticises the lack of a two-term limit on the presidency and condemns the jailing of opposition politicians
• Promotes an independent judiciary, freedom for media and civil society 
• Says he will introduce a three-year transitional government made up from members of the opposition coalition if he wins