The Nigerian Government on Wednesday explained why it dispatched to The Gambia, where electoral dispute has led to a political crisis.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Special Assistant toPresident on Muhammadu Buhari on Diaspora Affairs, tweeted that the Nigerian ship that is heading to The Gambia is on standby in case there is a need to evacuate Nigerian nationals.

She said in her official handle @abikedabiri: “Meeting points been designated. The naval ship that left for Gambia will be in standby for evacuation.”

Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari has been leading mediation efforts urging Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to stand down. The winner of December’s elections, Adama Barrow, is due to be sworn in today, Thursday, January 19, 2017.

BBC Africa security correspondent Tomi Oladipo says contrary to Ms Dabiri’s tweets that that the ship heading to the Gambia is not a warship, the NNS Unity is warship – even if it is deployed in a different capacity.

BBC says military sources told its reporter that Nigeria has more ships on standby.