Akufo-Addo to lead ECOWAS election observer mission in Nigeria’s 2027 elections

Ghana's 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 for the country’s January 16, 2027, presidential and National Assembly elections.

He will lead a 200-member team tasked with monitoring the electoral process.

His appointment was announced in a statement issued by his office on Thursday, November 12, 2026.

According to the statement, the deployment is in line with the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, adopted in 2001.

The mission will comprise experts and representatives from various institutions and sectors across the West African region, including ministries of foreign affairs, national electoral commissions and ECOWAS ambassadors accredited in Abuja.

It will also include representatives of the ECOWAS Council of the Wise, the ECOWAS Court of Justice, the ECOWAS Parliament, civil society organisations, the media and the electoral commissions of member states.

The deployment forms part of ECOWAS’s efforts to support democratic governance and credible electoral processes across the region.

Akufo-Addo served as Ghana’s fifth President under the Fourth Republic from January 2017 to January 2025.