The Election Observer Mission (EOM) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has commended the presidential candidates of the political parties, particularly Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, for upholding their commitments under the Peace Pact signed ahead of last Saturday’s election.
In a statement issued and signed by the Head of the ECOWAS Election Observer Mission, Mohammed Namadi Sambo, the EOM also praised Dr. Bawumia, the candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), for conceding defeat even before the official declaration of the presidential election results.
The statement noted that Dr. Bawumia’s decision to concede defeat to his main rival, John Dramani Mahama, helped reduce tensions prior to the declaration of the presidential results by the Electoral Commission (EC).
It also congratulated the President-elect, Mr. Mahama, on his victory at the polls.
The Observation Mission further lauded President Nana Akufo-Addo for his commendable stewardship of ECOWAS over the last eight years.
“We commend him for his leadership, mediation efforts, and regional integration initiatives on behalf of the Community, including his selfless service as a two-term Chairman of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government,” the statement read.
The 141-member Mission, led by Mohammed Namadi Sambo, GCON, former Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, described the election process across the country as generally peaceful.
“The atmosphere at polling centres was generally peaceful and orderly, with security agents present in 97% of the centres visited,” the statement observed.
The Mission reported that polling commenced within the first hour of the stipulated time, with voting starting between 7:00 am and 7:30 am.
Voting materials and polling agents were reported to have arrived at polling stations between 6:00 am and 7:00 am.
Polling centres were generally easy to locate and accessible, with 93.2% of the polling stations accessible to persons living with disabilities (PWDs).
The Mission deployed 70 observer teams to 54 urban and rural districts across the 16 regions of Ghana. These observer teams visited a total of 871 polling stations.
