The National Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has criticised the Electoral Commission (EC) over its decision to conduct a partial re-run of the disputed Ablekuma North parliamentary elections.
According to him, the EC’s move contradicts how it handled a similar case in Dome Kwabenya, where the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate was eventually declared the winner without a re-run.
In a post on social media on Wednesday, July 2, Ahiagbah accused the EC of bowing to undue pressure from the NDC and government but said the NPP will be victorious.
“The EC has capitulated under the backbreaking pressure of the NDC and government to re-run the Ablekuma North parliamentary election in 19 stations, which differs from how they resolved Dome Kwabenya. Why didn’t the EC do a re-run in Dome Kwabenya?
“The will of the good people of Ablekuma North will stand. Victory no matter what….” he wrote.
This follows the EC’s announcement of a re-run in 19 out of 37 polling stations in the Ablekuma North Constituency, which has remained without a Member of Parliament since the 2024 general elections.
The re-election is scheduled for Friday, July 11, and was agreed upon at a meeting between officials of the NPP and NDC on Tuesday, July 1.
In a statement dated July 2, the EC explained that the NDC had demanded a re-run in all 37 polling stations, while the NPP argued that results from three remaining polling stations should simply be collated and declared.
“It is important for the public to understand that the issue in contention has to do with the fact that 37 pink sheets provided by the NPP and used to collate the results were scanned copies,” the EC stated.
The outcome of the re-run is expected to finally settle the contest between Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie of the NPP and the NDC’s Ewurabena Aubynn.