Nigeria Elections: Baba Kamara appointed Deputy Head of 250 Member ECOWAS Observer Mission

A former National Security Advisor and High Commissioner to Nigeria, Alhaji Baba Kamara, has accepted an invitation from the President of the ECOWAS Commission to be the Deputy Head of a 250-member ECOWAS Election Observation Mission to Nigeria for this weekend's general election.

The mission headed by the former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Koroma, is expected to observe the Presidential Election scheduled to be held in Nigeria on February 25, 2023.

The team will be in Nigeria from February 22 to 28, 2023. 

Alhaji Baba Kamara’s appointment is pursuant to the provisions of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, which seeks to harness specialised skills in the field of diplomacy and good governance for the benefit of nation-states in the sub-region.

The election

Nigerians will head to the polls on Saturday in a fiercely-contested presidential vote that analysts say is too close to call.

It will be the largest democratic exercise on the continent as Africa’s most populous nation picks a new president.

Eighteen candidates are in the running for Nigeria’s highest office, each confident they can turn the country’s fortunes around if voted into power, but opinion polls suggest three are leading the race for the popular vote.

One of the key contenders is Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the candidate of Buhari’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Another is the main opposition leader and a former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Nigeria’s presidential elections have typically been two-horse races between the ruling and opposition parties, but this year’s vote has a third strong contender, Peter Obi, who is running under the lesser-known Labour Party.