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Ghana election: President admits defeat in poll Ghana election: Opposition leader Akufo-Addo declared winner
(35 minutes later)
Ghana's President John Mahama has conceded to opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo, the governing NDC party has told the BBC. Ghana's opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo has won Wednesday's tightly contested presidential election.
Mr Akufo-Addo tweeted that the president had phoned him to congratulate him on his election win. President John Mahama called Mr Akufo-Addo to admit defeat, a spokesman for his party said, as the Electoral Commission announced the result.
A BBC correspondent in the capital Accra says celebrations are breaking out as people react to the news. Mr Akufo-Addo has promised free high-school education and more factories, but critics have questioned the viability of his ambitions.
It is the first election defeat for a sitting president since Ghana returned to multi-party democracy in 1992. Celebrations have broken out in the capital, Accra.
Ghana's Electoral Commission (EC) declared Mr Akufo-Addo the winner, with 53.85% of the votes, while Mr Mahama took 44.40%, reports the BBC's Akwasi Sarpong at the scene. Ghana has been a multi-party democracy since the end of military rule in 1992 and this result is seen as reinforcing its reputation for the peaceful transfer of power between administrations.
Turnout was more than 68%. Ghana's Electoral Commission (EC) declared Mr Akufo-Addo the winner, with 53.85% of the votes, while Mr Mahama took 44.40%. Turnout on Wednesday's vote was more than 68%.
"It's my duty to declare Nana Akufo-Addo as President-elect of the Republic of Ghana," Charlotte Osei, the commission's chairwoman told media at its headquarters in Accra. Mr Akufo-Addo, from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), won the election on his third attempt to reach the presidency, after a campaign dominated by the country's faltering economy.
It is the second time in the space of a week that a West African president has conceded to an opposition candidate, following the shock defeat of President Yahya Jammeh in The Gambia's elections. On Twitter, he said: "Thank you Ghana. #ChangeHasCome."
Electoral victory has come at the third attempt for Mr Akufo-Addo, a 72-year-old lawyer, who has promised to industrialise the country and build factories in each of Ghana's 216 districts. In the previous election in 2012, Mr Mahama, from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), defeated Mr Akufo-Addo by less than 300,000 votes.
It is the second time in the space of a week that a West African president has conceded to an opposition candidate, following the shock defeat of President Yahya Jammeh in Gambia's elections.