The National Democratic Congress (NDC) claims to have uncovered new evidence of illegal voter transfers in the national voters register.
According to Deputy Director of Election and IT of the NDC, Dr Rashid Tanko-Computer, aside from the illegal transfer in the Pusiga constituency, the party has uncovered additional illegal transfer of voters in the Tolon constituency in the Northern region.
As such, he said, the Electoral Commission (EC) cannot be trusted to conduct free and fair elections until a forensic audit is carried out.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on September 18, he said, “What we have seen in this current administration, led by Madam Jean Mensa, is unprecedented.
“For the first time, voters have not appeared before Returning Officers; transfers are being made by individuals sitting at the EC’s office, using Voter IDs and pictures to manipulate the system, which is against the law. This accounts for the 15,000 voters in question.
“Their names are still in the register, but they are unaware that they have been transferred from Accra to places like Bolga and Wa.”
“So we realised that the EC has a register different from the one they exhibited and different from the one they gave us. So it appears they are having three registers,” he said.
Meanwhile, a former NPP presidential aspirant, Dr Kobina Arthur Kennedy, said he is surprised about the position of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and EC on the NDC’s demand for an audit of the register.
According to him, the NPP should have joined the protest, as an audit of the register will inure to the benefit of all parties.
“The question is why there is the need for a demonstration before those demands are met? They should be entrenched in our Constitution. The Electoral Commission cannot audit its own work.
“For one, it is moving to a position where its own integrity and impartiality is coming into question. An independent set of eyes will lend credibility to the process and I am baffled as to why the NPP who championed this cause is now lost and doesn’t see the wisdom.”
“NPP should have joined the demonstration. I don’t know why anybody will be against improving transparency in the elections,” he said.
In a rebuttal, the Director of Election and Research of the NPP, Evans Nimako, said the party will not be drawn into the unreasonable demands.
He explained that they would rather focus on campaign activities and ensure that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia wins the elections to become the next president.
“The exhibitions are intended to correct errors, such as misspellings or deletions. That is exactly what the EC must do. And that’s exactly what the EC did. Corrections are to be made to the data and then the final certified register will be made available to political parties.”
“If you’ve gone through it and realised that there is a certain 243,000 who have been transferred, captured from 2020 to 2024, you point it out to the EC. You’re saying that 15,000 people have been legally transferred. You point it out.”
“You are not prepared to submit the list to EC, but you are prepared to give it to a committee chaired by either Doctor Kennedy or IMANI. We the NPP have 79 days to December 7, we will not be distracted by this call now. It will serve no purpose,” he said.
ALSO READ: