Former President Mbeki of South Africa to lead Commonwealth observers for Nigerian elections

Former President of South Africa, H.E. Thabo Mbeki, will lead a team of Commonwealth election observers to Nigeria, which will be holding Africa’s largest democratic exercise later this month when it holds general elections on 25 February 2023.

Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, constituted the Commonwealth Observer Group following an invitation from Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission.

As of January 2023, an estimated 93.4 million registered voters will have the right to cast ballots for presidential and national assembly ca The Commonwealth Observer Group members, in alphabetical order by country name, are:

H.E. Thabo Mbeki (Chairperson), Former President, South Africa
Ian Browne, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Electoral and Boundaries Department, Barbados
Hon. Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Botswana
Dr Andrew Knight, Distinguished Professor, Fulbright scholar and expert in terrorism and security, Canada
Tara Chetty, Human rights and gender expert, Fiji
Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, Executive Director, Institute for Democratic Governance, Ghana
Dr Mohamed Chambas, Former United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Ghana
Hon. Amina Mohamed, Former Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage and Culture, and former Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Kenya
Linda Bonyo, Legal and data analytics expert, Kenya
Seabata Motsamai, Chairperson, Lesotho Council of Non-Governmental Organizations, Lesotho
Rt. Hon. Martin Ngoga, Former Speaker, East African Legislative Assembly, Rwanda
Hon. Sarah Flood-Beaubrun, Former House Assembly Speaker, Former Minister for Women Affairs and Former Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Saint Lucia
Dr Gregory Mills, Director, Brenthurst Foundation, South Africa
Josephine Karungi, Journalist, Uganda
Dr Alex Vines, Director, Africa Programme, Chatham House, United Kingdom
Kryticous Nshindano, Former Chief Electoral Officer, Zambia Electoral Commission, Zambia