The opposition New Patriotic Party has reinstated its claim of victory in Wednesday’s general elections, but the incumbent National Democratic Congress is claiming same.
The tension between the two main political parties is heightening over the results of the presidential and parliamentary elections as the Electoral Commission (EC) fails to declare a single result more than 20 hours after the close of polls at the last polling station.
The NPP declared victory barely seven hours after polls closed at polling stations across the country, claiming its presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo is in the lead with 4,600,000 votes as against 3,640,000 for the incumbent, President John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The party further called on the President to concede defeat, a move that was condemned by the EC and the NDC shortly after.
Read: NPP claims victory; Urges NDC to concede defeat
The NDC had also issued a press statement earlier where it claimed President Mahama was in a ‘comfortable lead’ and urged all supporters of the party to remain calm. NDC Spokesperson, Joyce Mogtari Bawah, said details from the party’s Parallel Vote Tabulation shows the president doing good and entreated all supporters to wait for the EC for verified results.
The opposition party again issued a presser to declare victory as it claims more results it has collated shows its candidate was in a commanding lead and called on the EC to declare the results.
At the press conference, the Deputy Director of Communications for the NPP lauded voters for electing Nana Akufo-Addo.
However, in a swift rebuttal, the NDC condemned the opposition party for declaring victory when the institution mandated to do so has not yet done so. NDC Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyidoho, called the move by the NPP premature.
Meanwhile, the EC explains it is unable to declare results because of complaints of over-voting at some unnamed constituency collation centres.
“As at now, we have received 25 Constituency Collated results at the National Collation Centre. However, the two major parties (NDC and NPP) represented here at the NCC have declined to sign on the collated results until they have seen the pink sheets and confirmed the accuracy of the results collated. As a result, the Commission has not been able to certify any of the 25 constituency results.
“The Commission appreciates that the results have been delayed considerably. We would like to emphasise that the Commission is not deliberately delaying the release of results. The delay is the result of our commitment to only releasing accurate and valid results to the people of Ghana,” the Charlotte Osei-chaired EC said in a statement.
Results covered by Joy News reporters from 120 out of a total of 275 constituencies across the country put president Mahama in a narrow lead with 49.41% of votes while his main contender Nana Akufo-Addo has 48.33%.
Charlotte Osei
The opposition party’s Nana Akufo-Addo has since received congratulatory messages from three out of presidential candidates in the race, defying admonishing from civil society organisations and election observers.
Source: myjoyonline.com
