APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
A former Ghanaian President, Mr. John Mahama, will lead the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) Election Mediation Team to Nigeria for the 2023 presidential and general elections.
The statement by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF) said on Saturday in Abuja that Mahama and his team would be arriving in Abuja on February 22.
It added that the team is expected to be on the ground for the Feb. 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections as well as the March 11, state elections.
According to the statement, the other members of the team include Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan; former Beninese President, Boni Yayi, and former Vice President of the Gambia, Fatoumata Tambajang, former Burkinabe Prime Minister and President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Kadre Ouedraogo and former Deputy Chair of the African Union (AU), Dr Erastus Mwencha.
The GJF Executive Director and Coordinator of the WAEF Secretariat, Ann Iyonu, explained in the statement that the focus of the forum is to interface with key stakeholders and provide necessary support that would ensure peaceful elections.
Iyonu added that the leaders would be working with key stakeholders in the elections as well as the observer missions to ensure a crisis-free process before, during, and after the elections.
“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.
“The forum made up of former Presidents and Heads of Government in West Africa will be interacting with the candidates, political parties and members, the citizens, the election umpire, observers, and other key stakeholders all the time.
“The leaders will be 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.
“The leaders will also be calling for individual accountability by those who by their actions or inactions undermine the democratic process and endanger lives,” Iyonu said.
It recalled that during the Gambian elections in December 2022, WAEF carried out a similar engagement where they deployed a team led by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and that the presence of the WAEF team in The Gambia and their mediatory activities, especially after the elections, helped to resolve post-election tensions that threatened the integrity and outcome of the poll.
GIK/APA