The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, has expressed his admiration for the just concluded general election in Ghana.
Henzodaily reported earlier that Ghana’s former President, John Mahama, won the poll held on Saturday, December 7, 2024.
The ruling party candidate, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, has since reached out to Mahama, the candidate from the National Democratic Congress, to extend his congratulations.
He stated, “The people of Ghana have spoken and they have voted for change at this time. We respect this with all humility.”
However, Ghana’s electoral commission is expected to announce the official results by Tuesday.
Commenting on the electoral process on Sunday, Yakubu, who observed the election, emphasised the significance of its innovations and political stability in facilitating the smooth execution of the 2024 presidential election.
The chairman of Nigeria’s electoral commission noted the political stability that characterizes Ghana’s democracy, highlighting the reliability of its political party structures and the loyalty of its voters.
He also acknowledged the determination of the main opposition candidate, a former vice president, and the current President, Nana Akufo-Addo, who had participated in several elections before ultimately achieving victory.
“Rarely in Ghana do you see people moving from one party to another with every general election. So, that is important.
“It provides stability. It also provides their supporters (with) stability. So, there are people who have supported political parties for many years. So, whether the party is in power or opposition, they stick to the political party,” Yakubu said in a statement on Sunday.
The head of INEC remarked that Ghana’s method of handling results at the constituency level, which Nigeria influences, has enhanced the effectiveness of the electoral process.
In the past, all parliamentary and presidential results were forwarded to the Electoral Commission’s headquarters in Accra for public announcement.
Now, Ghana has implemented a decentralized system that enables constituency-level officials to announce parliamentary results locally, while presidential results are still directed to Accra.
“The second thing for me is the lesson that Ghana also learnt from Nigeria in the area of managing constituency election results. Until the last election in Ghana, all results came from the Electoral Commission’s headquarters in Accra, which is parliamentary and presidential.
“Although Ghana is not a federal system, they learnt from Nigeria, where there are returning officers who announce results for parliamentary elections in the various constituencies around the country. Only the presidential election results come to Accra.
“In Nigeria, this is what we have done, and they borrowed a leave from us. This is the second time they are implementing that. That is why, as you can see, the result of the presidential election declaration was a lot faster than it used to be in the past,” he explained.
Yakubu expressed satisfaction with the process: “We are grateful that the election has gone very well. The process and its outcome so far have been commendable, and we continue to support our colleagues in Ghana’s Electoral Commission.”
The defeat in Saturday’s election ends two terms in power for the governing New Patriotic Party under Akufo-Addo, marked by Ghana’s worst economic crisis in years, involving high inflation and a debt default.