Members of the joint ECONEC and ECF-SADC Peer Support and Learning Mission to Nigeria in a group photograph with former President of Sierra Leone, Mr. Ernest Bai Koroma
AHEAD OF the general elections in Nigeria held on Saturday, February 25, 2023, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana, Mrs. Jean Mensa, led a delegation of Chairpersons of electoral commissions from seven African countries on a joint peer support and learning mission to Nigeria.
The mission was aimed at among others, offering support to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria, Mr. Mahmood Yakubu, as well as observing the elections and its processes.
The mission, which spanned between Wednesday, February 22 and Monday, February 27, 2023, was organised by the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) and the Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC countries (ECF-SADC), and saw the EC Chairperson and her delegation hold meetings with the Chairman and some officials of INEC to discuss ways of offering support to ensure a free, fair and transparent elections in Nigeria.
Mrs. Jean Mensa, who also doubles as the President of the Executive Committee of the Association of African Election Authorities (AAEA), was accompanied by Chairpersons of ECOWAS, SADC and AAEA, member Electoral Commissions from Benin, Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Niger, Namibia and Tanzania.
The team paid a courtesy call on the Head of the ECOWAS Election Observer Mission, and former President of Sierra Leone, H.E. Mr. Ernest Bai Koroma and also met with the Resident Representative of UNDP Nigeria, Mr. Mohamed Yahya, to discuss the elections.
In addition, the Mission visited the Situation Room of Yiaga Africa, a civil society organisation with headquarters in Nigeria dedicated to the promotion of democratic governance and civic engagement.
On the day of the Nigerian elections, the Mission visited a number of polling stations to observe the conduct of the elections. They also visited the National Collation Centre to observe various parts of the declaration of election results.
The joint Peer Support and Learning Mission was deployed with financial and technical support from the UNDP, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA).
BY Nii Adjei Mensahfio