*Mahmood Yakubu
The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu has come under fire for saying that Ghana learnt from Nigeria in its just concluded election.
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.
His main opponent, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, has also conceded defeat.
The VP confirmed that he had called his opponent, Mahama — the National Democratic Congress candidate and former president — to congratulate him, saying in a statement, “The people of Ghana have spoken and they have voted for change at this time. We respect this with all humility.”
According to AFP, the Election Commission said the official results were likely to be announced by Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the INEC chairman who monitored the election 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.”
Don’t miss out on any real-time information. Join our WhatsApp group to stay updated.However, the INEC chairman’s comment has been met with widespread outrage, with many social media users hinting that he is out of touch with the realities of his country’s electoral challenges.
Many asked the electoral commission chairman to have some shame, saying Ghana would likely experience retrogression should the country emulate Nigeria.
Johbull Igwe, wrote; “Is someone kidding me right now? Ghana learnt from the sham INEC orchestrated in Nigeria in the name of elections? No way. Ghana is 101% ahead of Nigeria.”
“Ghana’s election has provided a blueprint for conducting credible polls in Africa. Though the election was not perfect, it was the right step in the right direction. Nigeria was on the path to doing that until INEC, as presently constituted, rewound all the gains that we made in our electioneering journey. I hope we seize this moment to reform the Nigeria electoral system so that we can have an election that we can all be proud of,” @djokaymegamixer wrote.
For Umaru AJ, Ghana would likely experience retrogression should the country emulate Nigeria. He said: “May God not allow Ghana learn anything election related from Nigeria. It will set Ghana 20 years backwards.”
X users, Adewale ‘Damilare, said; “Yakubu, have some shame.”
Also lending his voice to the backlash, Sheidu Tijani noted, “INEC commended Ghana’s election after seeing them did what he could not do.”
Eze Aguiyi, on his part, hopes that the INEC chairman will learn from the Ghana presidential election but he seems to “really doubt it”. “Ghana just showed Nigeria how to conduct elections.”
Hakeem Makanju also condemned the chairman, whom he said was given the chance to oversee the most transparent elections in the history of Nigeria, utilising cutting-edge technology at his disposal.
“However, he opted to manipulate the process; he should be ashamed of his actions, as history will ultimately be his judge,” Makanju wrote.
It is observed that the backslash is as a result of percieved injustice that followed the 2023 presidential election where President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared winner.(agency)///
