We’ve Sued the EC Over Ablekuma North Rerun – Kodua Confirms

The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Frimpong Kodua, has slammed the Electoral Commission (EC), accusing it of defying a court order and acting in contempt by deciding to conduct a rerun of parliamentary elections in parts of the Ablekuma North Constituency.

Kodua argued that the EC’s decision not only disregards legal processes but also undermines Ghana’s democracy.

“That is why we are in court. Do you know the details of our writ?” he asked during an interview on Joy News.

“The EC has been cited for contempt of court because the directive from the court is explicit. Go collate and declare. You cannot vary the order of the court.”

He described the EC’s actions as a dangerous overreach of its mandate.

“It does not lie on the EC to conduct elections, and after elections, sit in the office and say that for convenience’s sake, based on their own extensive investigation or knowledge, we are going to do a rerun. That will be a bad precedent for this country.”

He stressed that if the EC had concerns about enforcing the court’s directive, the only lawful route would have been to return to the court for further instructions.

“If, in any case, you had legitimate concerns that the directive that the court has given is unenforceable, the only remedy is to go back to the court to get a further directive or a varied directive.

“Our institutions are supposed to be impartial. That’s why it’s important they remain professional.”

Kodua also raised concerns about the conduct of state security during the collation process.

“So are you trying to tell me that the reason why the police failed to provide security for us to complete the collation of the three outstanding polling stations was because they were working at the behest of this government?”

He insisted that the NPP had fully collated their results and were certain of a win.

“The NPP scanned all our 281 pink sheets and collated our results.

“Before we went to the Electoral Commission, we knew our candidate had obtained 34,613 as against the NDC candidate’s 34,199—a difference of 414 votes. So we were very sure.”

It is interesting how this situation is unfolding, as the Electoral Commission (EC), led by Jean Mensa and appointed by Akufo-Addo, has faced accusations from the NDC both before, during, and after the 2024 elections regarding their incompetence and alleged alignment with the NPP.

In a recent interview, Asiedu Nketia even demanded their dismissal.

Now, following the EC’s decision regarding Ablekuma North, which has not been well received by the NPP, they too are expressing concerns about their competence and are calling for their removal.

Source: Liberalprint.com