Ghana’s former president to lead 200-member ECOWAS observer mission for Nigeria’s 2027 elections

Former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been appointed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to lead its Election Observation Mission to Nigeria ahead of the country’s January 16, 2027, general elections.

The appointment was announced in a statement issued by the Office of the Former President on Thursday, November 12, 2026.

Mr Akufo-Addo will lead a 200-member team comprising representatives and experts from various institutions across West Africa.

The statement said the deployment would be undertaken in line with the regional bloc’s “Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (2001)”.

The mission will include experts from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and electoral commissions, ECOWAS ambassadors accredited in Abuja, members of the ECOWAS Council of the Wise, the ECOWAS Court of Justice and ECOWAS Parliamentarians.

Civil society organisations, media practitioners and electoral experts from across the region will also be represented.

Nigeria’s presidential election will feature 19 candidates, including incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and former Anambra State Governor Peter Gregory Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections are expected on February 6, 2027.