John Dramani Mahama, former president of Ghana, has voiced concerns about Ghana’s election management in comparison to Nigeria’s.
Mr. Mahama, who is in Nigeria as part of a pre-election trip organized by the West African Elders Forum (WAEF), was impressed by the confidence that all the candidates and parties have in the Nigerian Independent Election Commission (INEC).
He indicated that every political party in Nigeria has testified that INEC has acknowledged and taken their concerns into account.
“I can’t say the same for my Electoral Commission (EC), which was once among the top election administration organizations in the world”.
He argued that same cannot be attributed to Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC). According to him, the EC used to be amongst the top election administration organisations in the world.
The NDC was treated with what Mr. Mahama described as “hostility” by the “EC and her other Commissioners,” and he lamented the situation, saying he wished the EC could inspire the same level of confidence in all parties as the INEC.
However, the former president believes that his wish would remain so due to what he described as the EC’s rejection of all efforts by the National Peace Council to organize a meeting between the Commission and the two major political parties, the NDC and the NPP.
“Regrettably, I am not hopeful this will happen when we have an EC that has blatantly spurned all efforts by the National Peace Council to host a meeting between the Commission and the two major political parties, the NDC and NPP,” he said.
Former President John Dramani Mahama heads The West African Elders Forum (WAEF) in a duty to ensure a peaceful election as Nigeria seeks to elect a new president. Mahama is expected to be on the ground for the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections as well as the March 11, 2023, state elections.
Former leaders from the sub-region, including Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the former president of Nigeria, Boni Yayi, the former president of Benin, Fatoumata Tambajang, the former vice president of the Gambia, Kadre Ouedraogo, the former prime minister of Burkina Faso and president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and Dr. Erastus Mwencha, the former deputy chair of the African Union, make up the Forum (AU).
