Former President John Dramani Mahama has stated that the National Democratic Congress ( NDC) is willing to smoke the peace pipe with the Electoral Commission (EC), despite the party’s reservations about its operations.
According to him, though the NDC remains unhappy with the manner in which the EC conducted the 2020 presidential and parliamentary polls, the party is ready to work with the Commission in the 2024 general election, but will be more vigilant.
This he said, will, however, be based on the willingness of the electoral management body to ‘turn over a new leaf’, in its dealings with the party.
Mr Mahama made these remarks when he addressed a crowd of teeming party faithful at Ashaiman, as part of his two-day tour of the Greater Accra Region on Tuesday.
“We hope that they will turn over a new leaf. They’ll stretch a hand of friendship to us. We also will extend a hand of friendship. But they say if you eat with the devil, you use a long spoon. And so you stand far away and eat. And so even though we will shake hands and be friends, they say trust but verify. We will trust but we will verify,” he said.
Touching on the 2024 general election, he reiterated the party’s resolve to “cover every single blade of grass in the polls”. According to him, the party will deploy every available mechanism to make sure that the right thing is done.
He used the opportunity to thank party supporters who voted massively for the NDC in the December 7, 2020 polls. He also urged them to remain loyal to the party, as it laces its boots to annex victory in 2024.
Mr Mahama’s Greater Accra Regional Tour ended today, Wednesday, November 10, at the Kempinski Hotel where he addressed the nation on recent developments..