INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu Reacts to Ghana Presidential Election as Opposition Party Declared Winner

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has praised Ghana’s electoral process, highlighting its innovations and political stability as key factors in the smooth conduct of the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.

Ejes Gist News reports, Ghana’s former president, John Dramani Mahama, won the presidential election held on Saturday. His main opponent, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), conceded defeat.

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Bawumia, in a briefing at his residence, confirmed that Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) also won the parliamentary election. He stated, “The people of Ghana have spoken and they have voted for change at this time. We respect this with all humility.”

The defeat marks the end of two terms in power for the governing party under Nana Akufo-Addo, a period marked by Ghana’s worst economic crisis in years, involving high inflation and a debt default.

Prof. Yakubu, who monitored the election alongside Yiaga Africa observers, noted the political stability inherent in Ghana’s democracy and the consistency of its political party structures and voter loyalty. He cited the perseverance of the main opposition candidate, a former vice president and the current President, Nana Akufo-Addo, who contested multiple elections before achieving success.

“Rarely in Ghana do you see people moving from one party to another with every general election. This provides stability and also provides their supporters with stability. There are people who have supported political parties for many years, whether the party is in power or opposition,” Yakubu said.

He also highlighted that Ghana’s approach to managing results at the constituency level, inspired by Nigeria, has improved the efficiency of the electoral process. Previously, all parliamentary and presidential results were sent to the headquarters of the Electoral Commission in Accra for announcement. However, Ghana has adopted a decentralized system, allowing constituency-level officers to announce parliamentary results locally while only presidential results are sent to Accra, as practiced in Nigeria.

Yakubu explained, “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 to the Electoral Commission’s headquarters in Accra; both 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 leaf 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.”

Yakubu expressed satisfaction with the process, stating, “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.”