Nigerian Politicians Are Unreliable Bunch – INEC Chair Yakubu

• Idolises Ghanaians for staying true to party affiliations 

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has described most Nigerian politicians as unreliable with no fidelity and loyalty to party affiliations.

He said compared to their Ghanaian counterparts, Nigerian politicians could easily pass for scumbags who lack strong party allegiance and are unfortunately untrustworthy.

Prof Yakubu frowned at a situation where members of the political class consciously flirt about as common hookers jumping from one party to another without shame

The INEC Chairman said the political tradition in Ghana deserves commendation because their politicians hardly defect to another party every general election just to satisfy their selfish desire and inordinate ambition as is presently the annoying case in Nigeria 

According to Yakubu, the Ghana’s case study is quite commendable and fascinating because the people can rely on their politicians to stay focused and true to their party affiliations and ideology in spite of all odds.

He also praised Ghana’s electoral process, noting that its innovations and political stability are key factors in the smooth conduct of the just-concluded 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.

Speaking in a short video presentation, Prof Yakubu, who monitored the election, alongside Yiaga Africa observers, lauded the political stability inherent in Ghana’s democracy, as well as the consistency of its political party structures and voters’ loyalty.

“Rarely in Ghana do you see people moving from one party to another with every general election. So, that is important. It provides stability. It also provides their supporters with stability.

“So, there are people who have supported political parties for many years. So, whether the party is in power or opposition, they stick to the political party”.

He also noted the perseverance of the main opposition candidate and President-elect John Mahama of National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the current President, Nana Akufo-Addo who contested multiple elections before achieving success.

Yakubu also highlighted that Ghana’s approach to managing results at the constituency level, inspired by Nigeria, has improved the efficiency of the electoral process.

Before now, all parliamentary and presidential results were sent to the headquarters of the Electoral Commission in Accra for announcement.

In the new dispensation, Ghana now operates a decentralised system that allows constituency-level officers to announce parliamentary results locally while only presidential results are sent to Accra, the country’s capital as currently done in Nigeria.

Yakubu said; “The second thing for me is the lesson that Ghana also learnt from Nigeria in the area of managing constituency election results. Until the last election in Ghana, all results come to the Electoral Commission’s headquarters in Accra; which is parliamentary and presidential.

“Although Ghana is not a federal system, they learnt from Nigeria where you have returning officers who announce results for parliamentary elections in the various constituencies around the country. Only the presidential election results come to Accra.

“In Nigeria, this is what we have done and they borrowed a leave from us, and this is the second time they are implementing that. That is why, as you can see, the declaration of the presidential election result was a lot faster than it used to be in the past.”

Specifically expressing satisfaction with the electoral process in Ghana, the INEC Chairman said; “We are grateful that the election has gone very well. The process and its outcome so far have been commendable, and we continue to support our colleagues in Ghana’s Electoral Commission.”

Meanwhile, with former President, John Dramani Mahama, winning the presidential poll on Saturday by defeating his main rival, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), the outcome effectively ended NNP’s two terms in power under President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Akufo-Addo’s tenure was unfortunately dented by Ghana’s worst economic crisis in years, involving high inflation and a debt default.