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Prof. Jega admonishes Ghana on need for free and fair elections

kencitymediagh
Dec 14, 2015
2 min read

The immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has challenged Ghana’s Electoral Commission to conduct the 2016 elections in a manner which will be worthy of emulation on the continent. According to him, the 2015 election of Nigeria was successful due to several electoral reforms undertaken since 2010 which brought a lot confidence in the process.

He opined that although the Nigerian elections weren’t perfect, there was a lot to celebrate about

Speaking at a public lecture in Accra hosted by the Institute of Economic Affairs, Prof. Jega stated that they sailed through because of the caliber of personnel used as electoral officers which culminated in the success of the elections contrary to views that Nigeria will plunge into chaos. According to him, African countries can learn a lot from the election he presided over. “In spite of many challenges, Nigeria’s 2015 elections was successful and showed remarkable improvements in the level of credibility over the 2011 elections… there is a lot that could be learned by other countries in Africa.”

He added: “I want to say that all eyes were on Nigeria in 2015, so all eyes will be on Ghana in 2016 as you prepare and subsequently conduct your elections. As I mention earlier, as you have been beating us in soccer, you must now beat us in the conduct of free, fair and credible elections.” Prof. Jega was also of the view that electoral commissions must have financial independence. “Financial autonomy of a commission is important. The situation where a commission has to go cup in hand to a government will undermine the integrity of the commission,” the Nigerian academic and former Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano warned.

Story by: Michael Creg Afful