Former Auditor General Modou Ceesay has accused President Adama Barrow of unlawfully sacking him from office after he refused to suspend many high-profile audits and turn down a ministerial job that the President offered him in a shocking court filing before The Gambia’s Supreme Court.
The Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police are named as defendants in the case, which is named “Writ to Invoke Original Jurisdiction.” For what Ceesay refers to as his “forceful removal” from office on September 15, 2025, in violation of the Constitution and the National Audit Office (NAO) Act, 2015, it seeks constitutional remedies.
The writ claims that Modou Ceesay was appointed Auditor General in November 2022 and had started a number of significant audits, such as a compliance audit of the Ministry of Lands, a special audit of the National Food Security and Processing Marketing Company (NFSPMC), and tax and revenue audits for the fiscal years 2023–2024.
The plaintiff claims that President Adama Barrow summoned him to many meetings, during which the president allegedly voiced concerns about the audits’ timing and implied that they would “affect his election bid.” According to Modou Ceesay, the president “urged him to either stop or delay the audit.” According to reports, the NFSPMC management also complained to the president about the challenges they were having because of the Forensic Audit Unit.
Modou Ceesay further claims that on August 24, 2025, the President, in front of the Chief of Staff and the Secretary to Cabinet, advised him to halt or postpone the audit of the Ministry of Lands, the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA), and the NFSPMC special audit.
In the document, the plaintiff also claims that the concessionaire in charge of the digital revenue systems and the GRA “deliberately refused to comply” with his formal request, filed in accordance with the National Audit Office Act of 2015, for copies or extracts from their database backups.
In the writ, the plaintiff further claimed that the Central Bank of The Gambia’s (CBG) statutory audit, which was carried out by PKF Audit Firm, was causing increasing worry. In order to discuss concerns brought up by CBG management, the plaintiff was called to a meeting with the president, chief of staff, governor, and first deputy governor.
The plaintiff asserted that CBG officials said the bank’s request to meet with the auditors, who were hired by his office through its Outsource Committee, to address any unanswered audit questions after their fieldwork was finished, was the reason behind the delay in releasing a promised payment of about D1.2 billion to the government.
The court document describes a dramatic series of events that culminated in his forcible removal. Modou Ceesay received a summons to meet with the President at State House on September 10, 2025. The president allegedly commended Ceesay for his efforts at the meeting and stated that he was currently reshuffling his cabinet. The President handed the Plaintiff a sealed envelope and declared that, after consulting with his advisers, they had decided to appoint Ceesay as Minister of Trade, Regional Integration, and Employment.
According to the writ, Ceesay left the State House after promising the President that he would reply. But after looking through the contents of the envelope, he asked the President for another meeting that same day.
According to the writ, Ceesay told the President in a later meeting that afternoon that he had decided to turn down the ministerial offer and that he preferred to stay on as Auditor General, where his “skill set and experience are more closely matched.” The President persisted, claiming that he had already named Ceesay’s successor and the appointment had been published in the media.
Later that evening, Ceesay says he wrote an official letter rejecting the offer, even though he had received “compliments and congratulatory messages as Minister of Trade.” The Chief of Staff and the Honorable National Assembly Member for Sabach Sanjal paid him an unannounced visit at his home at 23:00 hours on September 10. They said that the President had sent them to “beg the Plaintiff to accept the offer.”
According to Ceesay’s writ, he formally declined the offer in a letter to the President on the morning of September 11, 2025. He “at no time accepted the ministerial appointment either verbally or in writing,” Ceesay emphasizes.
Even after a group of Imams, family members, and elders visited him on September 12 and urged him to accept the government job, Ceesay persisted in carrying out his responsibilities as Auditor General. He added that he had been informed that if he didn’t comply, he would be forcibly removed the following Monday
Court documents state that on September 15, 2025, Ceesay was forcibly removed from office by Gambia Police Force members acting on the President’s express orders.
According to the writ, this conduct violated section 16 of the National Audit Office Act, which requires due process before any removal from office, as well as provisions 158, 159, 160, and 169 of the 1997 Constitution, which protect the independence and tenure of the Auditor General. Ceesay is currently requesting a declaration that the state’s actions constitute a violation of the separation of powers and institutional independence protected by the Constitution, and that his removal was unlawful and unconstitutional.
According to legal experts, this case may turn out to be a historic test of presidential meddling in oversight institutions, specifically the independence of the National Audit Office, which is a cornerstone of public accountability.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Hassan B. Jallow, made reference to the issue for the first time, laying the groundwork for what is anticipated to be one of the most significant constitutional disputes in recent Gambian history.
