Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said the military rule in four West African countries, is a set back to democratic governance in West Africa.
Prof. Yakubu who spoke in Banjul, the Gambian capital where he is attending the extraordinary General Assembly of the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) meeting, recalled how at ECONEC’s 2017 meeting in Sierra Leone, he had proudly announced that every country in the sub-region was under democratic rule.
He regretted that four countries in the region have slipped into military rule, but expressed the hope that democracy would soon return to the affected countries.
Prof. Yakubu who was former ECONEC Chairman, informed the Assembly that he was attending the meeting for the last time, as his tenure as INEC Chairman ends later this year.
He expressed gratitude for the support he received during his tenure, and called for stronger ties and deeper collaboration among Election Management Bodies (EMBs) in the West African sub-region.
According to him, working more closely together is key to deepening democratic governance across the region, and urged them to continue to uphold the values of electoral integrity and regional unity.
The meeting, among other issues, is expected to review and adopt a revised draft of the ECONEC statutes, a well as consider, the creation of Africa’s first-ever electoral resource-sharing database, an innovative move aimed at boosting collaboration and capacity-building across the continent.
The extraordinary General Assembly drew together the chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the EMBs from the Republic of Benin, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Prof. Yakubu is scheduled, while in Banjul, to join the current ECONEC President, Mr. Konneh Mohamed Kenewui of Sierra Leone, for a series of visits to key stakeholders, including the government of The Gambia as part of ECONEC’s Needs Assessment Mission ahead of the country’s presidential election in 2026.