Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has commended Ghana’s electoral process in the just-concluded presidential and parliamentary elections, noting that the country has adopted some valuable lessons from Nigeria.
Ghanaians went to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president and members of parliament. John Mahama, candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), emerged as president-elect.
Speaking about the electoral exercise, Yakubu described it as “commendable” and highlighted its contribution to Ghana’s political stability.
“It has been a very interesting election. We came here as part of the ECOWAS network of electoral commissions with colleagues from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Southern African region,” Yakubu said.
“The process and its outcome so far have been commendable, and we continue to support our colleagues in Ghana’s electoral commission.”
Yakubu noted two key aspects of Ghana’s electoral process that stood out. First, he praised the stability of political party loyalty in Ghana, where supporters tend to remain committed to their parties over the years, regardless of whether the party is in power or opposition.
“This provides stability not only for the parties but also for their supporters, creating a consistent political framework,” he said.
The INEC chairman also highlighted how Ghana has borrowed from Nigeria’s electoral practices, particularly in the management of constituency election results.
“Until the last election in Ghana, all results—parliamentary and presidential—were sent to the Electoral Commission’s headquarters in Accra,” he explained.
“Although Ghana is not a federal system, they learnt from Nigeria, where returning officers announce results for parliamentary elections in various constituencies across the country, while only the presidential election results go to the national capital.”
Yakubu added that this adjustment has significantly expedited the declaration of presidential election results in Ghana.
“This is the second time they are implementing that system, and as you can see, the declaration of the presidential election result was a lot faster than it used to be in the past,” he said.
