Eighteen of the 27 people who collected nomination papers for the December 5 presidential election had submitted them to the Independent Electoral Commission by the end of the ninth day of nominations, and nine others withdrew without submitting their papers, the Commission said.

The nomination period began on November 3 and is due to close on November 14. Six submissions had not been processed because the required D1 million deposit had not been paid. The Democratic Party has officially withdrawn from the nomination process, and The Gambia Labour Party’s submission, for aspirant Bakusa Dukureh, had also not been processed after he publicly acknowledged holding dual citizenship. The papers of Adama Barrow of the National People’s Party and Ousainou Darboe of the United Democratic Party (UDP) were processed with no further documents or signatures required. Under the law, candidates must secure 5,000 signatures of registered voters nationwide, with minimum distributions across administrative areas.