Mahmood Yakubu (left) at the ECONEC meeting in Gambia
Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has called for stronger regional collaboration among election management bodies in West Africa.
A statement on Thursday said the INEC chairman gave the charge while speaking at the extraordinary general assembly of the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) in Banjul, Gambia.
He stressed the importance of working together to strengthen democratic institutions across the region.
Yakubu, who previously led the ECONEC steering committee, expressed gratitude to his colleagues for their support and praised the current leadership for keeping the network active and relevant.
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He also praised past members who contributed to strengthening democracy in their home countries and across Africa.
The chairman, however, noted that four countries in the region have regressed from democratic rule since ECONEC’s 2017 meeting in Sierra Leone.
Yakubu urged his colleagues to uphold electoral integrity and “also informed the Assembly that he was attending the ECONEC meeting for the final time as Chairman of INEC, because his tenure ends later this year”.
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The assembly brought together chairpersons and vice-chairpersons from 11 West African countries, including Nigeria, to review and adopt a revised draft of the ECONEC statutes.
A key proposal on the agenda is the creation of Africa’s first electoral resource-sharing database, aimed at boosting collaboration and capacity-building across the continent.
Other election management body heads echoed Yakubu’s call for deeper regional collaboration, commending ECONEC for its technical support and vital role in sustaining democratic governance in West Africa.
During his visit to Banjul, the INEC chairman will join ECONEC President Konneh Mohamed Kenewui of Sierra Leone for a series of meetings with key stakeholders, including the Gambian government, as part of its needs assessment mission ahead of the country’s 2026 presidential election.
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