President John Evans Atta Mills on Monday called on incumbent Ivorian President Laurent Kuodu Gbagbo and his main contender in the last presidential election, Alhassane Ouatara, to allow the rule of law and peace to prevail in that country.
Both incumbent Ivorian President Gbagbo and Alhassane Ouatara have both declared themselves winners of the elections and subsequently sworn
themselves into office.
President Mills said: "We are all interested in what is happening in Cote d'Ivoire and our major concern is for peace to prevail so that the
lives of the people are not adversely affected".
The called for peace in the neigbouring country comes ahead of an emergency Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meeting in Abuja , Nigeria, over the political crisis that has hit Cote d'Ivoire.
President Mills made the call when an Ivorian envoy delivered a special message from incumbent President Gbagbo, to inform President Mills of the current political development in La Cote d'Ivoire after the elections.
President Mills, who would be joining his colleague ECOWAS Heads of State in Abuja to deliberate on the Cote d'Ivoire political impasse that has resulted in the formation of two governments by the two contenders.
He emphasised that peace and security should not be compromised to the detriment of Ivoriens.
President Mills had earlier in the run-up to the second round of Ivorien elections last week at the Africa-EU Summit in Libya last week,
called on the two presidential contenders to accept the results of the elections.
He said the situation in Cote d'Ivoire was a disturbing one which should be addressed urgently.
President Mills said he was hopeful that the outcome of the ECOWAS emergency meeting would help the find lasting solution to the impasse in La Cote d'Ivoire.
Details of the message were not disclosed, but Dr. Sery Bailly, a former Minister of Higher Education, who delivered it, told journalists
later that President Gbagbo wanted to fully inform President Mills of the development so as to correct any perceptions that he might have.
Dr Bailly made it clear that it was no intention of the Gbagbo Government to lobby the Government of Ghana on the issue.
"President Gbagbo wants to assure President Mills that he is also interested in peace that is based on the rule of law," Dr Bailly told
journalists.
In what is described as a serious political crisis, the Constitutional Council overturned the results of the presidential election and declared Mr. Gbagbo the winner with 51 per cent of the total votes cast.
His main contender, Mr. Quattara, according to the council, secured 49 per cent of the votes.
This contravened the Electoral Commission's earlier declaration that the opposition leader had won the Election with 54 per cent of votes cast while Mr. Gbagbo obtained 46 per cent.
Mr. Gbagbo was sworn in for a third term in office at the presidential palace last Friday, but within hours, Mr. Quattara, a former Prime Minister from the predominately Muslim North of the country, was sworn in at an Abidjan hotel guarded by UN peacekeepers.