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The victory by Nana Akufo-Addo’s centre New Patriotic party, after eight years of rule by the left-leaning National Democratic Congress, triggered wild celebrations across much of the country.

Akufo Addo thanked the incumbent  John Dramani Mahama for conceding defeat and for his  work for Ghana

His win follows the surprise electoral defeat last week of Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh, who had spent 23 years in office after seizing power in a coup.

The two results point to west Africa’s improving record for smooth democratic transitions after recent transfers of power in Nigeria, Cape Verde and Benin. However, Jammeh has  backtracked on his concession.

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Final results in the closely contested race are expected by the weekend.

The New Patriotic Party’s  calling on President John Dramani  Mahama to throw in the towel, claiming they’ve won more than 54% of collated results.

They called a press conference in Accra to trumpet their claim which has been condemned by the National Peace Council.

There are seven presidential candidates, but the most significant contest is between President John Dramani Mahama and former Foreign Minister Nana Akufo Addo whom he beat four years ago.

Candidate of the People’s National Convention Dr Edward Mahama has congratulated Akufo-Addo as the winner of the presidential election and urged other candidates to follow suit..

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