Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), says the just-concluded presidential and
parliamentary elections in Ghana showed that the country has learnt some
lessons from Nigeria.
On Saturday, Ghanaians headed to the polls to elect a new
president and members of the parliament.
John Mahama, candidate of the National Democratic Congress
(NDC), has been elected president.
The INEC chairman described the electoral process as
“commendable” and one that provides stability for Ghana and its citizens.
“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,” he said.
“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.
“There are many things that I’ve observed; the first thing
is the political parties. 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.”
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