Yiaga Africa says it has deployed an election study mission to observe Ghana’s ninth general elections, following accreditation by the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC).

Executive director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, made this known in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to him, the organisation is undertaking the mission to understudy and document good practices on election result management, voting rights, electoral technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and issue-based politics.

He said that the mission hoped to contribute to the body of knowledge on elections through documenting comparative lessons in Ghana’s elections.

“This marks Yiaga Africa’s fourth election study mission under its Transforming Electoral Governance in Africa (TEGA) initiative, which enhances electoral governance through evidence-based learning, documentation and advocacy.

“The 12-person delegation, led by Dr Aisha Abdullahi (former African Union Commissioner of Political Affairs), includes legislators, academics, civil society leaders, legal experts and media practitioners from Africa.

“Other members include: Sen. Sharafadeen Alli, Chairman, Nigerian Senate Committee on INEC and Electoral Matters, National Assembly and Hon. Adebayo Balogun, Chairman, Nigerian House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, National Assembly,” he said.

Mr Itodo also said that Dr Hussaini Abdu, Yiaga Africa board chair and country director, CARE International, Nigeria, Afam Osigwe, president, Nigerian Bar Association and Bonolo Magkale, Center for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa, were part of the delegation.

Others were Majeed Bakare of Premium Times Newspaper, Ijeoma Osamor of African Independent Television (AIT), Samson Itodo and Olusegun Ogundare, African head, operations and research.

Mr Itodo said that the mission would observe pre-election, the election itself and post-election activities, using diverse observation tools.

“Additionally, the mission will interface with key election stakeholders and engage with domestic and international election observer missions, as part of its comprehensive observation/study mission methodology.

“After the elections, a report will be issued to share the mission’s findings.

The elections will take place on Dec. 7.

 (NAN)