Updated

A spokesman for Ghana's ruling party says it has nominated President John Dramani Mahama, who stepped into the leadership role following the recent death of John Atta-Mills, to run in this year's presidential election in December.

George Lawson of the National Democratic Congress party said Thursday that Mahama, a communications expert, will face National Patriotic Party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo, who lost to Mills in 2004 by less than 1 percent.

Mahama, who had been vice-president, was sworn into office the night of President Mills' death in July in what analysts hailed as a smooth transition in a coup-prone region.