Tema Metropolitan Assembly Mayor, Ebi Bright, has lashed out at the New Patriotic Party (NPP), accusing it of undermining Ghana’s electoral system during its time in office.
She said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government would not repeat the alleged misconduct, insisting the rerun of the Ablekuma North parliamentary election was not influenced by incumbency.
According to her, the exercise slated for today, Friday, July 11, became inevitable after the Electoral Commission (EC) failed to authenticate results from 19 polling stations due to irregularities.
“Excuse me to say, it was obvious from what we’ve inherited that that was the way to go. You all saw what was happening through our electoral process. When they had the authority, what did they do with it? They made a sham of our political process,” she told journalists at a polling station in Ablekuma.
She added: “It’s not about incumbency forcing this rerun. The EC couldn’t continue because they couldn’t authenticate the results. There was no other option, and we’re not going to sit down and allow illegalities.”
Some 6,000 voters across the 19 polling stations are expected to cast their ballots to resolve the dispute that has stalled the declaration of a winner in Ablekuma North.
Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie of the NPP and Ewurabena Aubynn of the NDC are in a tight race.
A recollation of results from other polling stations on Thursday showed the NPP leading with 32,512 votes against the NDC’s 32,464—a margin of 48 votes.