Ghana's Afari-Gyan leads Nigeria elections committee

The Chairman of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan has been appointed to head a 10-member committee of experts to advice Nigeria on elections.

A Nigerian publication, ThisDay reports that the Federal Government of Nigeria had commissioned the experts from Ghana, the UK, US and South Africa to advise on preparation of the country’s election design.

The members of the committee are McDonald Neil, of the British High Commission, Falzone Sarah of the  U. S Embassy, Aswani Margarim, Consultant to DFID, Kadima  Denis of the DRC ( based in South Africa) and Kew Darren, of the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

The ccommittee will use the forthcoming governorship election in Nigeria as a case study for its report and will also serve as a foreign election monitoring committee and recommend its findings directly to the Presidency, the publication said.

Nigeria’s electoral system has been under constant criticism, and elections in the most populous nation in West Africa often is dodged with violence and allegations of fraud and riggings.

The committee according to the report has began work in Nigeria and is expected to submit the first report on its findings by January 22.

Dr. Afari-Gyan, a political scientist has supervised elections in Ghana since the country went democratic in 1992. He has been credited with the successes of peaceful elections and handover of power in Ghana.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi