As some voters in the Ablekuma North constituency return to the polls for a crucial parliamentary re-run, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) is exuding confidence of a landslide victory, with its leaders challenging the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) earlier claims of dominance in the constituency.
The outcome of this election holds significant national implications, as a win for the NDC would increase its parliamentary seats to 184, granting the party a critical two-thirds majority in Ghana’s legislature.
Rashid Tanko Computer, Deputy Director of Elections and IT for the NDC, who led the party’s team for an official collation of results at the Electoral Commission, dismissed the NPP’s narrative of a commanding lead in the constituency. According to him, the data collected from the 262 polling stations tells a different story.
“Today, a lot of people don’t know that we were doing a collation of results. We did a proper collation of the results of the Ablekuma North parliamentary elections at the Electoral Commission. I led the team there.
“We finished last evening, we collated 262 polling stations, and the result was so revealing that all the noise the NPP were making—that they were leading with huge votes—was not the truth.”
Rashid Tanko Computer, Deputy Director of Elections and IT for the NDC
Misrepresentation of Figures
Rashid Tanko was direct in accusing the opposition New Patriotic Party of misrepresenting figures.
“I told you, NPP, they are masters of cooking figures and bamboozling everybody with it. But we did a proper collation, and at the end of it, the results were very clear.
“Out of the 262 polling stations, the difference between NPP and NDC was just 48 votes, not the 414 they have been carrying around. They don’t even understand what they were doing.”
Rashid Tanko Computer, Deputy Director of Elections and IT for the NDC
He further argued that the NPP’s claims about Ablekuma North being a traditional stronghold are not supported by recent political trends or data. “The claim that the constituency is their stronghold is also not true,” he asserted.
“In the just-ended December 7, 2024, general elections, the NDC flipped 20 constituencies which used to be strongholds of the NPP. This re-run has nothing to do with the NPP having strongholds in those polling stations.
“The collation we have done doesn’t support the argument that NPP has a stronghold in those 19 polling stations. The NDC is confident of a landslide victory in today’s re-run election.”
Rashid Tanko Computer, Deputy Director of Elections and IT for the NDC
Polling Data
Rashid Tanko’s optimism is backed by polling data from Global InfoAnalytics, one of Ghana’s leading political research organisations. Its Executive Director, Mussa Dankwah, offered insight into both pre-election and exit polling trends in the constituency.
“In the last public opinion poll conducted in Ablekuma North, Ewurabena Aubyn led with 48.83%, and Akua Afriyie had 48.61% using the likely voters model, which excludes ‘I would not vote. In the exit poll conducted on election day, the poll showed that Ewurabena Aubyn likely won the race with 56%.”
Mussa Dankwah, Executive Director for Global InfoAnalytics
Despite these encouraging signs for the NDC, Mussa Dankwah cautioned that the official Electoral Commission (EC) figures at the end of the original vote count had Nana Akua Afriyie, the NPP candidate, narrowly ahead with 50.30%, compared to Ewurabena Aubyn’s 49.70%.
Both polls cited by Global InfoAnalytics carry a margin of error of 3.5%, reinforcing the sense that this re-run could go either way.
As the re-run takes place, political analysts and party strategists are focused not only on the immediate winner but also on the broader national implications.
If the NDC captures the seat, it will increase its total number of seats in Parliament to 184, giving the party a two-thirds supermajority.
This would grant the ruling party unprecedented legislative power, including the ability to pass bills without obstruction, initiate constitutional amendments, form a parliamentary quorum independently, and approve or disapprove key decisions and appointments.
Such a shift in the parliamentary balance of power would fundamentally alter the governance dynamics in the country, placing the NDC in a dominant position as the ruling party.
In the meantime, tensions remain high in Ablekuma North, with both parties mobilising their base and watching the outcome closely.
For the NDC, the re-run represents not just the chance to win a constituency, but the opportunity to reset the power balance in Parliament. For the NPP, it is a last stand to prevent a legislative lockout.
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