The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has denied a claim by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that it is plotting with the Electoral Commission (EC) to insert the name of an unqualified candidate into the electoral register for the Assin North by-election.
According to the party, the claim is false and should be ignored. It stated that the party is not seeking to transfer any voter to Assin North voters register, urging Ghanaians to ignore the NDC’s baseless claims.
Contained in a statement issued by the Director of Communications of the NPP, Richard Ahiagbah, it indicated that true to the character of the NDC, its statement is replete with “spurious claims and baseless allegations” intended to mislead the Ghanaian public.
The NPP further stated that unsurprisingly, the NDC’s statement is intended to prepare the ground for it to reject its “imminent defeat” in the Assin North by-election.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the NPP wishes to, by this statement, set the records straight by responding… The NPP emphatically debunks the allegations that the Party ‘is in a plot to illegally insert the name of an unqualified NPP Parliamentary Candidate into the Assin North Register’.”
New Patriotic Party
Furthermore, the NPP clarified that over the years, it has worked hard to maintain its enviable position as the pacesetter of multiparty democracy in Ghana which includes the strengthening of independent democratic institutions like the Electoral Commission. As such, it explained that it cannot be the Party that would engage in any acts that would jeopardize the nation’s democratic gains.
“The NPP has no Parliamentary Candidate for Assin North. As publicly advertised, the Party is yet to hold Parliamentary Primaries in the Assin North Constituency to elect its parliamentary candidate for the by-election. It therefore begs belief how the NDC is able to determine our parliamentary candidate ahead of time and to suggest that we are plotting with the EC to illegally insert his name in the Assin North register.”
New Patriotic Party
Prior to this, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) revealed that it has become aware of a plot by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), acting in cahoots with the Electoral Commission (EC) to transfer and insert the name of one Charles Opoku, into the Voters Register of the Assin North constituency.
NDC accuses NPP, EC of plotting to insert name of Charles Opoku
The NDC stated that this “illegal move” is to aid the said Charles Opoku to contest in the NPP Parliamentary primaries to select a candidate for the upcoming Assin North by-election. It highlighted that unimpeachable sources have revealed that contrary to the clear requirement on the nomination form for the Assin North by-election, which demands that a candidate in the election must be a registered voter in Assin North, the said Charles Opoku is not a registered voter in the Assin North Constituency.
Moreover, the NDC explained that per the regulation 22 of the Public Elections Regulations 2020 (C.I 127), voter transfer can only be effected for an ordinary citizen not less than 42 days to a public election. More importantly, it emphasized that transfer applications can only be made to the Returning Officer of a public election.
“Given the fact that, we have less than 42 days to the by-election in Assin North, and a Returning Officer is yet to be appointed for same, any transfer of voters to Assin North will be unlawful and same shall be fiercely rejected by the NDC. We are closely monitoring this situation and shall take every legitimate step to ensure that this illegal plot is not perpetrated by the Electoral Commission and their collaborators in the NPP.”
National Democratic Congress
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