The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said Ghana’s decision to decentralize its electoral system was inspired by Nigeria’s success in managing constituency election results.
While commending the smooth conduct of the election, INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu observed that until the last election in Ghana, all parliamentary and presidential results were sent to the headquarters of the Electoral Commission in Accra for announcement.
The election was won by President-elect of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama.
Mahama won the election after his main opponent, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, conceded defeat.
The defeat in Saturday’s election ended two terms in power for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) under President Nana Akufo-Addo.
For the 2024 presidential election, Ghana adopted a decentralized system, allowing constituency-level officers to announce parliamentary results locally while only presidential results were sent to Accra.
Yakubu, who monitored the election believed that Ghana’s approach to managing results at the constituency level was inspired by Nigeria, adding that the process improved the efficiency of the election.
The INEC chief said, “Although Ghana is not a federal system, it learnt from Nigeria where you have returning officers, who announce results for parliamentary elections in the various constituencies around the country.
“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 the declaration of the presidential election result was a lot faster than it used to be in the past.”
