By: Kemo Kanyi
Gambia’s former president, Yahya Jammeh, has pointed accusing fingers at the 2016 coalition leaders for “allowing” Senegal to drill Gambia’s oil.
He stated that Senegal does not have any oil deposits, claiming that if they did, France would have drilled them long ago.
Jammeh described Gambia’s oil deposits as one of the largest oil reserves in the world, comparing them to those of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
The former president said his government had prepared for the drilling of Gambia’s oil. He added that his government spent about $4 million on exploration and designing of Gambia’s oil reserves with a Canadian oil exploration company.
He explained that he sent Gambians abroad to study oil exploration, petroleum well management, and drilling so that when the drilling starts, the country would not need to rely on foreign nationals to work in Gambia’s oil sector. He accused America and the British government of planning to reserve West African oil for future use while continuing to drill the oil reserves of Asian countries.
Jammeh said former Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade jokingly told him that Senegal would steal Gambia’s oil. He questioned the silence of the 2016 coalition leadership Ousainou Darboe over oil drilling. Jammeh argued that the petroleum product that Senegal is drilling is within Gambian territory and not between the two countries.