President John Dramani Mahama has appointed Baba Sadiq Abdulai Abu as Ghana’s High Commissioner-designate to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, marking a major diplomatic transition for the former parliamentary candidate and creative industry entrepreneur.

The appointment, disclosed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, March 1, 2026 following the recall of Baba Jamal, who vacated the diplomatic position after declaring his intention to contest the Ayawaso East by-election triggered by the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Nasser Mahama Toure.

His decision created a vacancy at one of the most important diplomatic missions, opening the way for a politically trusted and nationally visible figure to assume the role in Abuja.

Baba Sadiq’s appointment represents a shift from domestic electoral politics into international diplomacy.
A prominent figure in Ghana’s creative economy, he was the National Democratic Congress parliamentary candidate for the Okaikwei Central constituency during the 2024 general elections.

His parliamentary ambitions, however, were cut short following a controversial court-supervised collation process that overturned earlier provisional results in several constituencies.

In January 2025, a High Court in Accra ordered the Electoral Commission to complete the collation of outstanding polling station results in disputed constituencies, including Okaikwei Central and Tema Central.

The ruling followed a legal challenge by the New Patriotic Party, which argued that earlier declarations were procedurally flawed and incomplete.

The court, presided over by Justice Forson Agyapong, issued an order of mandamus compelling the EC to finalize the process with police protection.

When the court-ordered collation was completed, Patrick Yaw Boamah of the NPP was declared winner of the Okaikwei Central seat with 21,099 votes, defeating Baba Sadiq, who polled 19,368 votes.

Despite that electoral setback, Baba Sadiq remained politically relevant within the NDC and the broader national discourse, positioning himself as a bridge between politics, culture, and economic development.

His elevation to High Commissioner now places him at the center of Ghana–Nigeria relations—one of the most critical bilateral relationships in West Africa, involving trade, energy cooperation, migration, regional security, and ECOWAS diplomacy.