Ghana’s former President, John Mahama, of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), yesterday made a historic return to power in the West African country, in an election generally described as one of the most transparent in Africa’s recent political history.
It also saw Nigeria’s neighbour continuing its tradition of conducting almost seamless general polls, with the ruling party’s candidate and current Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia, conceding defeat even before the electoral commission called the final results.
For the winner, who was the country’s president from 2012 to 2017, it was his third attempt to reclaim the presidency after falling short in 2016 and 2020 elections. The electoral commission has said it will announce official results on Tuesday.
Under the current administration, Ghanaians have had to deal with high cost of living, high inflation and a debt default occasioned by the West African nation’s worst economic challenge in years.
But yesterday, plaudits poured in from Nigerian leaders, current and former, cutting across political divides.
Some of those who praised the conduct of the election included: President Bola Tinubu; former Vice President Namadi Sambo, who was an observer in the December 7 election; ex-Nigerian number two man, Atiku Abubakar and a former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Kayode Fayemi.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) through its Commission President, Dr Omar Touray also extended its felicitation to the president-elect and the entire Ghanaian people.
The polls in Ghana further put paid to insinuations that Africans cannot conduct open and acceptable elections, strengthening the argument that the tension and strife that usually follow general elections could be minimised with transparent electoral processes.
It is coming less than a week after Namibia elected its first female leader, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who won with 57 per cent of the vote, according to official results.
In an address conceding defeat, Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), said he had called Mahama, whose party also won the parliamentary election, to congratulate him.
“Let me say that the data from our own internal collation of the election results indicate that former President John Dramani Mahama has won the Presidential election decisively.
“The NDC has also won the parliamentary election. Even though we await final collation of a number of seats, I believe ultimately these will not change the outcome,” Bawumia told his supporters.
Stressing that he conceded before the official results to ease tensions, the ruling party’s presidential candidate acknowledged that the people’s choice must be respected.
“I am making this concession speech before the official announcement by the electoral commission to avoid further tension and preserve the peace of our country.
“It is important that the world investor community continues to believe in the peaceful and democratic character of Ghana. The people have voted for change at this time, and we respect that decision with all humility,” the defeated candidate stressed.
– Thisday
Can Nigeria get to this point?