- Gambari-Led 130-Member ECOWAS Delegation Team Expresses Satisfaction With Conduct…
By Abiola Olawale
West Africa region bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has commended the peaceful conduct of Senegal’s presidential election which was held on March 24, 2024.
The Head of the ECOWAS election observation mission to the Presidential election in Senegal, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, has expressed satisfaction with the process so far.
This was contained in a report filed by the ECOWAS election observation mission led by Gambari and made available to the New Diplomat.
A former Chief of Staff to former president Muhammadu Buhari and an erstwhile UN Under-Secretary-General (political), Gambari, who led a 130-member delegation to observe Senegal’s presidential election said the process complied with the true democratic process.
The New Diplomat reports that Gambari, who had previously served as a permanent representative of Nigeria to the United Nations from 1990 to 1999, and as a former minister of external affairs, led a delegation made up of the Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Abdul-Feteh Musah; Nigerian Ambassador to ECOWAS, Musa Nuhu; representatives of the ECOWAS Parliament and the Council of the Wise, to observe the electoral processes at some polling units in the capital Dakar as well as the suburbs as polling opened across the country.
The Head of mission and the ECOWAS delegation interacted with electoral officials and voters to ascertain compliance with the electoral process. Gambari was satisfied with the level of compliance with the procedure at the polling units and especially noted the fact that it had been peaceful.
The Head of the ECOWAS electoral observation Mission was also at the ECOWAS situation room in Dakar where he received briefing from experts collating reports from ECOWAS observers deployed across the country.
The 130-delegation grouped themselves into 57 teams, across the 14 years and covered a total of 1140 polling stations.
They confirmed that voting commenced at the right time at the polling units, materials arrived on time, polling agents were on and there was adequate security presence.
According to a report filed by the high-level electoral observers team led by Gambari and made available to the New Diplomat, the delegation observed that 91.84% of polling stations opened in time, that is 8 am, while 8.16% of the polling stations visited by the delegation team opened between 8:15 to 8:30 am.
The delegation also observed that the polling stations were generally peaceful with security agents visibly at polling stations.
ECOWAS also observed in the polling stations it visited that 71.87% were accessible to Persons Living Disability (PLWDs) while 28.13% were not easily accessible as no special arrangements were made to assist the aged and persons living with disability.
The ECOWAS Election Observation Mission also commended the gracious gestures of the government’s official candidate, Candidate Amadou Ba, and the outgoing President, H.E. Macky Sall, who congratulated Bassirou Diomaye Faye, even before the official declaration of preliminary results.
According to the report, the act contributed to further thawing tensions and promoting national reconciliation.
The delegation also described the election as significant to the consolidation of democratic governance in Senegal and the West African region.
