Director of Elections and Research of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Evans Nimako, has described the opposition National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) refusal to adhere to the Electoral Commission’s (EC) instruction not to allow political party representatives to monitor the ongoing vote transfer exercise as worrying.
The Electoral Commission issued a directive seeking to stop political party agents from supervising the votes transfer exercise.
The EC stated that this decision was made in response to several clashes that have transpired at its district offices, aiming to maintain order and security during the process.
However, the NDC has since instructed its party members to ignore the EC’s directive and proceed to various centres to monitor the transfer of votes.
The NDC argues that this EC directive could potentially facilitate gerrymandering through unlawful voter transfers, undermining the integrity of the electoral process.
But Mr Nimako, asserts that the NDC’s refusal to adhere to the directive could be a potential problem.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Top Story on June 3, he explained that the EC was dedicated to ensuring that electoral processes were smooth and transparent and would therefore eliminate anything that might hinder that process.
Therefore, all parties adhering to this directive is a good call.
He explained that over the years the NPP has legitimately captured political power hence the NDC claim that the EC wanted engage in gerrymandering to favour the party was false.
“We have won elections over the years irrespective of who sat there as the returning officer or the EC official. We have won elections. It is not who sits there or the noise that the NDC will be making but what is that Act saying. If it allows parties to have their agents at this place, New Patriotic Party will have their agents.
“If you begin to be physical, if you begin to attack and create unnecessary tension and confusion, why do we allow that? And so we would have loved a situation where under the circumstance we could have said that if an agent is creating the problem can we then substitute but the posture of NDC is really disturbing and we must all look at it and address it head on,” he told host, Samuel Kojo Brace.
He argued that C.I.127 does not allow agents at registration centres, but following an Inter-Party Advisory Committee meeting, a decision was reached to allow various political party agents to observe the elections.
Mr Nimako argued that if the EC now feels it is problematic, it is only right that all parties adhere to the directive.
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