In the Greater Accra Region’s Ablekuma North Constituency, the Electoral Commission (EC) has temporarily halted the process of compiling the results of the parliamentary election.
Before declaring a winner, the EC plans to use the suspension to confirm 21 of the 62 polling station results that are still pending. After a careful examination of the contested pink papers, the EC says the procedure will restart in a day.
The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) submission of soft copies and scanned copies of pink sheets caused disturbances, which led to the decision to stop the collation process. Because of concerns about their reliability, the EC rejected 21 of the 62 pink sheets that were presented and approved 41.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) objected strongly, claiming that the party and the EC did not have full records of the pink sheets.
They argued that the collation process’s usage of scanned documents was unheard of and inappropriate. After the NDC declared its intention to withdraw from the process due to the observed anomalies, the EC was forced to postpone the collation.
According to Vincent Obeng, the Ablekuma North Constituency’s Returning Officer, confirming the pink sheets is essential to preserving the process’s integrity.
A winner will be announced within the court-mandated timeframe, the EC has promised stakeholders, and the collation process will resume as soon as possible.
The suspension took place in the wake of a January 4, 2025, High Court decision directing the EC to finish collating results in four constituencies by January 6, 2025: Tema Central, Ablekuma North, Okaikwei Central, and Techiman South.
This directive came after NPP candidates filed mandamus proceedings, claiming the EC had not fulfilled its statutory duties. The case’s judge, Justice Forson Agyapong, emphasized the legal prerequisites for approving such applications.
Ablekuma North is the only constituency whose results have not yet been confirmed, while three of the four constituencies—Techiman South, Okaikwei Central, and Tema Central—have already been proclaimed in favor of the NPP.
The circumstance highlights the need for openness and equity in election processes and the ongoing conflicts between the NPP and NDC over the collation process.
Credibility in the Ablekuma North ultimate result will depend on how the EC resolves the pink sheet dispute.
Source: citinewsroom.com