John Dramani Mahama has appointed Abdulai Abu Baba Abubakar Sadiq as Ghana’s High Commissioner-designate to Nigeria.

The appointment was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 1, 2026.

In a statement accompanied by his official portrait, the Ministry confirmed that Baba Sadiq Abdulai Abu will represent Ghana in Nigeria, pending the completion of the required diplomatic formalities.

He succeeds Baba Jamal, who stepped down from the role to contest the Ayawaso East by-election.

Baba Jamal later won the National Democratic Congress primaries and is now the party’s parliamentary candidate for the constituency.

Baba Sadiq contests Okaikwei Central

Baba Sadiq contested for Okaikwei Central in the 2024 general elections, against Patrick Yaw Boamah of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The closely contested race saw initial results suggesting a win for Patrick Boamah.

However, protests by the NDC led the Electoral Commission (EC) to review the figures. Following the review, Baba Sadiq was officially declared the Member of Parliament-elect.

According to the EC’s returning officer, out of the total votes cast, which was 30,322, NDC’s Baba Sadiq secured 15,383 votes, narrowly defeating NPP’s Mr Boamah, who secured 14,949 votes.

The declaration came after the NDC insisted that results from two-thirds of the constituency’s polling stations should be used to announce the outcome.

While the NDC argued that using results from 78% of the 141 polling stations was a valid approach, the NPP disagreed. The situation led some NDC supporters to confuse the collation centre.

The election process faced significant delays, particularly on December 7 at the Ansurudeen Islamic School polling station. Disagreements over limited space and the number of polling agents led to chaos, with voting booths destroyed in the ensuing tensions.

Despite these challenges, the collation was eventually completed, and Baba Sadiq’s victory was confirmed, barely 48 hours after the polls.

After re-collation by the EC, Patrick Yaw Boamah was declared the winner of the Okaikwei Central seat.

Boamah secured 21,099 votes, retaining his seat in Parliament. His sole challenger, Baba Sadiq, who was initially declared the winner, garnered 19,368 votes.