By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has explained the basis for his fascination with Ghana’s political tradition.
Mahmood noted that Ghanian politicans, unlike their Nigerian counterparts, are not birds of passage who defect to another political party every election season.
Yakubu also commended Ghana’s electoral process, especially its innovations and political stability as key factors in the smooth conduct of its 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
The INEC boss, who monitored the election, alongside Yiaga Africa observers and spoke in a short video, noted the political stability inherent in Ghana’s democracy, and the consistency of its political party structures and voter loyalty.
Yakubu 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. 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,” 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 decentralised system, allowing constituency-level officers to announce parliamentary results locally while only presidential results are sent to Accra as practised in Nigeria.
He said, “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.”
Yakubu also expressed satisfaction with the process.
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.”
Recall that Ghana’s ex-president, John Dramani Mahama, won the country’s presidential election held on Saturday after his main opponent, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), conceded defeat.
Briefing newsmen at his residence, Bawumia said Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) also won the parliamentary election.
The VP confirmed that he had called his opponent, Mahama, to congratulate him.
“The people of Ghana have spoken and they have voted for change at this time. We respect this with all humility,” Bawumia said.
The defeat in Saturday’s election ends two terms in power for the governing party under Nana Akufo-Addo, marked by Ghana’s worst economic crisis in years, involving high inflation and a debt default.
