On January 12, 2017, outgoing President Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia asked the Supreme Court for an injunction that would bar his successor, President-Elect Adama Barrow, from entering office. Jammeh lost reelection in December, initially accepting the results but ultimately rejecting the outcome and claiming the election was rife with “irregularities.”  He had been in power for twenty-two years after seizing the presidency during a coup in 1994. According to a news article, he declared a state of emergency on January 17, 2016, just days before his mandate ends. Numerous high level government officials have resigned or left the country in protest while tens of thousands of civilians have fled the tiny West African nation. On January 18, 2017, a military commander of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) stated that the bloc would take military action unless the political crisis was resolved.