The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has appointed former Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to lead its Election Observation Mission to Nigeria ahead of the January 2027 general elections.

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

Akufo-Addo will oversee the deployment of a 200-member observer team for Nigeria’s presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027.

The mission will operate in line with the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, adopted in 2001, which provides for regional monitoring of electoral processes in member states.

The observer team will comprise representatives of foreign affairs ministries, electoral commissions and ECOWAS ambassadors accredited to Nigeria.

Other members will be drawn from the ECOWAS Council of the Wise, the regional bloc’s Court of Justice and Parliament, civil society organisations, the media and election experts from across West Africa.

Akufo-Addo served as Ghana’s president from January 2017 to January 2025, completing two constitutional terms before handing over to John Dramani Mahama.

He previously led the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission to Benin during its presidential election in April 2026.