The Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has lauded Ghana’s electoral system for its innovative practices and political stability, which contributed to the smooth conduct of its 2024 presidential election.
Mr. John Mahama, former Ghanaian president, emerged victorious in the election held on Saturday, December 7, 2024.
His main challenger, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, conceded defeat in a statement where he congratulated Mahama, the candidate of the National Democratic Congress.
Professor Mahmood Yukubu who monitored the election, in a video posted on INEC’s social media platform, said Ghanaian politicians always stay in one political party, leading to the stability of democracy in the West African country.
He noted that Ghana learnt the practice of managing results at the constituency level from Nigeria.
Yakubu said, “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.
“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 come to the Electoral Commission’s headquarters in Accra; which is parliamentary and presidential.
“Although Ghana is not a federal system, they learnt from Nigeria where you have 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, and this is the second time they are implementing that. That is why, as you can see, the declaration of the presidential election result was a lot faster than it used to be in the past.
“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”.