Ex-Ghanaian President Mahama leads poll mediation team to Nigeria

Former President of Ghana, John Mahama, will lead a poll mediation team to Nigeria on Wednesday February 22 ahead of the general elections starting Saturday February 25.

The mediation team was set up by the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) to ensure peaceful conduct of the country’s elections.

The forum is a non-partisan platform comprising past heads of state and government in West Africa.

Communications Officer of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, announced the development in a statement on Saturday.

Ann Iyonu, the coordinator of the WAEF secretariat, said the forum’s focus is to interface with key stakeholders and provide the necessary support to ensure peaceful elections in Nigeria.

She said the mediation team would be working with key stakeholders and the observer missions, to ensure a crisis-free process before, during, and after the elections.

The statement read in part, “Unlike other observation missions, the Forum has a special focus on election-related conflicts, and the Elders will be on the ground for a longer time, interacting with the candidates, political parties and members, the citizens, the election umpire, observers, and other key stakeholders; all the time looking out for crisis triggers, with the mind of nipping them in the bud by offering mediatory roles and giving relevant advice to ensure peaceful polling, based on their personal experiences as former leaders of the sub-region, while calling for individual accountability by those who by their actions or inactions undermine the democratic process and endanger lives.

“The team led by former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama is billed to arrive in Abuja on February 22, 2023, and is expected to be on the ground for the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections as well as the March 11, 2023, state elections.

“Other members of the team include former Beninese President Boni Yayi, Fatoumata Tambajang, former Vice President of the Gambia, former Burkinabe prime minister and president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Kadre Ouedraogo, and Dr. Erastus Mwencha, former Deputy Chair of the African Union (AU).

“The WAEF team will be in Abuja next week to witness the second signing of the National Peace Accord by Presidential candidates and chairpersons of political parties, which is aimed not only at ensuring peaceful electioneering but also at committing the candidates to accept the outcome of the elections.”